Dark Wings
by Leapingspirit
Summary: no summary to give, just read the story. yaoi profainity violence etc... etc... etc... enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Dark Wings

_**(Rubs hands together evilly) Kukuku... time to start the sequel to Blood and Desire. I've had this idea for a while, but it just now started to take enough form to make me loose interest in finishing the first one. I'm not gonna give you a summary, cause I'm not too sure about the plot myself, but if you haven't finished reading Blood and Desire first, go and read that or you won't get what's happening up until the 3rd chapter. The first chapter or two are gonna be centered around Kouen and what happened to him after he took up permanent residence in the living world (about 15 years after to be exact). So, I hope you like it!**_

Chapter 1- Guns and Knives

Kouen yawned as he walked slowly down a deserted road, rubbing his eye; for his blind one was covered by a patch; and trying to wake up fully. The thing he hated most about having a real job was that you had to get up early, for him, 4 in the morning to be able to get there in time at the pace he moves that early. When he got a job offer for a permanent job as an assistant band director, then when LeBlanc retired, full time, he couldn't really refuse. He barely had enough money to get by before he died, became a werewolf, and came back, and that was when he was working for the government, so he was up to anything that was thrown at him. As long as it gave him sufficient funds that is.

And seeing as he never really used cars or anything, he had to walk across town to get to the school while trying not to get run over by a truck or something. Life had been surprisingly easy for him since he came back, but he still had an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. It had been 15 years since Aizen had been killed, and things had become almost normal. Seireitei had gotten back into the swing of things, the werewolf realm was back in order thanks to a couple werewolves who were willing to work to get it that way, and things had died down in the living world, thanks to his and Kurosaki Ichigo's efforts to keep the Hollow population down. But ever since his lover, Hitsugaya Toushiro had been killed, Kouen felt that; even with Hyourinmaru's presence in his mind; that he was alone.

_Who am I kidding? _He thought sourly. _I am alone. Sure every month or so I go to visit the Shinnigami, but I live alone, my friends are busy else where and I have no family left alive._

_"Quit being so depressed wolf." _Hyourinmaru growled at him. _"You have me, and you know that I'm always willing to talk." _ever since Hyourinmaru had taken up residence in his mind, Kouen noticed that the dragon spirit had loosened up quite a bit when compared to the silent, stiff spirit that he had once been.

_Well, the fact that I'm talking to a spirit doesn't rest well with me. It feels creepy... no offense._

The only response he got was a growl, followed by a snort. He chuckled and cracked his knuckles to try to wake up more, the popping sound echoing in the alley the was cutting through. "Why do I live so far away from the damn school again?" he muttered to himself. "Oh that's right. Its the only apartment I could afford. And pride be damned if I mooch off of Shadow."

"Oi! Kouen!" yelled a slightly feminine voice behind him. The werewolf turned around to see Kurosaki Karin, now in collage, running up to him, waving an arm in the air. He smirked as she skidded to a halt in front of him.

"What's the rush?" he asked. "Ichigo finally get himself killed?" Karin punched him in the shoulder and grinned.

"No stupid. I just noticed you walking and decided to say hi." she snapped teasingly. Kouen's smirk turned into a grin that was identical to hers as he regarded the girl whom he thought of as a sister. Besides being taller and being a bit more filled out, she hadn't changed much in the past 15 years. She was still a tomboy, still hung out with exclusively boys, and still played soccer in an almost obsessed fashion.

"Right, and force me into playing soccer with you and your friends again." he snorted.

"And that." she squinted at his face and rolled her eyes. "You forgot to shave you chin again." Kouen blinked and felt his chin, groaning mentally when he felt the bit of hair there that seemed insistent of staying present.

"Well, its four in the morning. What do you expect?"

"Good point. And don't you have another two hours worth of staggering through alley ways to get to the middle school?"

"Yes, and I'll just leave you now." he said, his heart leaping into his throat in surprise. _I have the appearance of a 16 year old and yet I have facial hair. Well, its better than zits I suppose. _He thought as he walked off, leaving Karin to go her own way.

As he walked, he heard a sharp cry from another alley a few meters away and stopped, listening carefully. Inching towards it and peaking into it, he groaned when he saw a large group surrounding two young children, most of the offenders being armed with either a blade or a gun. "Great. Just great." he snorted quietly. Picking up a rock that was laying by his foot, he chucked it at one of their heads and knocked him out, getting surprised yells from the others, who turned to look at the werewolf, who was tossing another rock in one hand.

"Now then. Is this hardly fair?" he sneered. "All of you against those two? Tsk tsk." he closed his only visible eye and shook his head in false dismay. He heard a gun being cocked and pulled out one of his own, thankful that he always carried one. With out even opening his eye, he shot the man in the foot, the other ones taking a step back. A brave; or stupid; one charged forward with a knife, ready to stab the werewolf in the gut, but said wolf moved out of the way at the last second, grabbing the man on the back of the neck and pressing several points on his back, making him go limp. "Any one else?"

The thugs gulped and one shoved another forward, as though putting him on the top of a slaughter list at a slaughter house. The one who was pushed forward cursed at the other and staggered cautiously forward while Kouen watched him carefully, and casually. He was the only one that wasn't armed and the wolf guessed that he was going to try a fist fight, which was exactly what the man did not a second later. Kouen moved and dodged out of the way with deadly grace that only werewolves could posses and struck the man in the neck, knocking him unconscious. Glaring at the two that were left, he uttered a low growl and they scurried away quickly, nearly tripping over their own feet.

"Well if that wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done I don't know what is." he muttered to himself. When he turned to walk away, one of the children ran up to him and pulled on the back of his shirt.

"Wait."

Kouen turned and looked down. The child looked to be no older than 10 years old, had black hair, and brown eyes, and looked oddly familiar in the face. "Yes?"

"Thanks... for saving us I mean." he murmured shyly.

"No problem. What are kids like you two doing out so early anyway?" the child blushed some and muttered a 'nothing' out before turning to his sister and running up to her, pulling her to her feet. "Right. Well, I suggest you head on home before something else happens." pausing for a second he continued, "And what are your names?" when he received no reply, he turned around fully and blinked when there was no one there, and no trace; not even a scent; that they had been there. _Ghosts? No... those were mortals that were attacking them. Then... what? _Shaking away the disturbing thoughts that were flooding his mind, he continued to tromp to the other side of town and a slightly faster pace than before. He could get there in an instant, but he found that walking woke him up more, and made him less irritable... and didn't scare any onlookers.

About 5 minutes before he reached the school, he heard a familiar cry near by and ran a hand through his unruly hair. "What an active morning." he groaned. Feeling around for Ichigo's riatsu, he snorted. "Typical. The one time I need the strawberry, he's not here." looking around, Kouen vanished from where he was standing and appeared in front of the Hollow that was chasing a ghost around. Clenching his fist and surrounding it in red fire, he smashed hand into the Hollow's mask, shattering it and making the monster vaporize into thin air. Hearing another cry behind him, he turned around to see another Hollow holding the ghost up, about to devour it. Growling, he crushed that one's mask as well. "Where'd that one come from? I didn't sense it." he said in wonder, scratching the side of his head.

Looking down at the ghost, he sighed to see that it was fine. "I'm sorry to say that, until a Shinnigami comes across you, you're on your own. I can't send you to Soul Society." apologized the wolf, a bit sheepish. The ghost whimpered and inched backwards, fear showing through on its pale face as it pointed behind him, trying to say something. Turning around, Kouen didn't have time to register the other Hollow before it knocked him into a brick wall, making blood spurt from his mouth. Sliding to the ground, he glared at the monster and growled, staggering to his feet. "Where'd you come from ugly?" he growled.

The Hollow chuckled moved toward him. "What's the matter wolf? You too weak to handle little old me?" it said, its voice full of malice. Kouen growled again and flung himself at it, shattering its mask like he had the others.

_Where are all these coming from? And why can't I sense them?! Hyourinmaru I could use some help here! _He called out in his mind. The dragon growled and snorted his consent. Kouen's right hand was surrounded with ice while his left was still covered in fire.

_"Combine the two. There's another coming." _ordered the ice spirit.

Kouen snorted and made a swirl of fire around his ice covered hand, gaping as a huge portal opened and Hollows poured out. "You call that another one!?" he yelped, his eye wide. His cell phone beeped and he pulled it out, seeing that it was orders from Seireitei, which was strange. He never got orders from them because he wasn't a Shinnigami. It read that there was going to be a Hollow invasion and the wolf growled, shoving the phone in his pocked. "No shit smart ones!" he growled.

"Need some help?" came a familiar voice beside him. Ichigo stood beside him with Zangetsu slung over his shoulder.

"About time you got here strawberry." snapped Kouen, glaring at him before he was forced to dodge away as a couple Hollows flew at him. "What's with the sudden increase of Hollows? Did the 13 taichos move here or something?" he demanded as he proceeded to crush the Hollows' masks.

"Not as far as I know." Ichigo replied, slicing another Hollow in half. "I didn't know they were here until I my Shinnigami badge went nuts."

"That's normal for you." Kouen grunted, having been swatted by one of them. "What's strange is that I didn't sense them, and that I got orders from Soul Society, which never happens. They must be desperate."

"I guess so." came the reply. Soon enough, the Hollows were all destroyed and they could take a breather.

"And there is; or was, depending if it ran off or not; a ghost some where around here. I need to get going or Hooper's gonna pull something for my being late." the werewolf said, brushing some dust off of his shirt and rubbing a sore spot on his arm. The principal (Hooper) of the middle school knew Kouen was a werewolf, as did the other staff members, for some unexplained reason, and also knew that he helped with other things around town, so he was aloud to be a little late sometimes, but he was already 30 minutes late, and didn't want to keep them waiting any longer.

Disappearing to the school, making sure to appear on the roof where no one would see him, Kouen checked himself for any blood or anything he didn't notice before and dropped to the ground cautiously, peaking around the side of the building to see some of the students crowded around the band hall, becoming impatient. Sighing that they hadn't called anyone to come unlock it yet, he waded his way through the crowd and unlocked the door, apologizing for his lateness. Luckily though, there was only a couple weeks left in the school year, and he would be able to get another job for the summer a bit closer to home, or just disappear off the face of the earth for a while. Either one worked.

The day flew by quickly and Kouen spent his time after school submitting grades and being bored, leaning back in the rolling chair, his feet propped on his desk. At about six, there was a knock on the office door and the werewolf was snapped out of a day dream he had been having, more commonly known with his friends as spacing out. "Yeah?" he grunted, sitting up.

He saw that it was an old friend of his, or two of them rather, standing impatiently at the door to his office. None other than Alex and Rowan, a couple of cat demons who had been friends for years, so close that they could read the others thoughts and talk in perfect unison so often that some thought that they were sisters. It was creepy to Kouen.

"Did you forget that we have a soccer match with Kurosaki today?" asked Rowan, glaring at him.

"Well sorry. I've been busy." Kouen snapped a bit more viciously than he meant. "I had a very active morning. First thugs attacking a couple of kids, who disappear soon after without a trace, then a massive Hollow attack. I actually got orders from Seireitei to take care of them. That never happens." he continued, trailing after them as they walked away. Though it had been 15 years since they last came to this school, they both still had the appearance of 14 year olds, thanks to being demons.

"Massive Hollow attack? Like invasion size?" Alex asked curiously. "And you forgot-"

"I know." the wolf interrupted, twitching. "Yes, like invasion size. But it was just regular, weak Hollows. Not anything like Menos or Arrancar." he fell silent for a moment before continuing. "The strange thing is, I didn't sense them before they attacked. It was like something was clogging my senses, or filtering them to keep me from identifying Hollow riatsus from my own and other creatures."

"That is strange." murmured the brunette thoughtfully. "You said that the kids that were being attacked disappeared? Did they say or do anything to make you suspicious? Or were they just regular ghosts?"

"Yes, no, and no. They were being attacked my mortals. So they weren't ghosts, and they just said thank you, then when I asked their names so I could tell their parents what happened, they were gone. Strange, no?"

"Very strange." both said in unison, making Kouen wince.

"If they weren't ghosts, and weren't mortals, than what were they?" Rowan mused.

"They didn't even leave a scent."

"Weird. We'll do some digging later, right now, we have some Kurosaki ass to kick." the dirty blond continued with a grin, making the others chuckle as their leisurely pace became a swift run.

_**Weird place to leave off I know, but there's a reason for it. You'll see in the next chapter when I get around to writing it. Until then, review!**_


	2. Chapter 2

Dark Wings

_**I know, I know. It's been forever since I updated... but to be honest, I pretty much lost interest in the story for a while. But! I'm back in the swing of things now! This one starts off not with Kouen, but with Hitsu-chan's reincarnation. And of course with my endless imagination, I decided to let him have the same name. Yay me! And he's 15 cause he was reincarnated a couple months after he was killed. So on to the story!**_

Chapter 2- Hello Again

"C'mon Toushiro! We're gonna be late at the pace you're going!" yelled Karin, glaring over her shoulder at the boy plodding along casually behind her and her other friends. This boy was, of course, none other than Hitsugaya Toushiro, reincarnated, but without any memories of his past lives.

"Hey. I never asked you to wait for me. If you're in such a big hurry, go on ahead cause this is as fast as you're getting me to go." he replied stoically. Karin huffed and turned back around, continuing on at the pace they had been walking at for a while now.

They plodded up to the soccer field just as the other group, consisting of Alex, Rowan, and Kouen so far, ran up as well. "Hey! Nice timing." called Rowan. She and Alex ran up to Karin and started to speak in hushed voices while Kouen skidded to a halt on the opposite end of the field. He didn't seem to notice Hitsugaya, or anyone else for that matter. In fact, he looked like he was in his own little world.

From Hitsugaya's point of view, he was someone who he would picture in a sports magazine. Perfectly toned, and tanned, body. Unruly auburn hair with a couple silver streaks in it that fell down to about mid way down his neck. He stood with a relaxed stance, leaned back some with one hand in his pocket and the other hanging limply by his side. At the moment, he was wearing blue jeans, a dark blue t-shirt, and a black leather biker jacket. The only off-setting thing about him was the black patch over his left eye, making Hitsugaya think that he had gotten into a fight and lost. The eye that wasn't covered was a bright, yet dark, green with flecks of black surrounding his pupil, which, even from as far away as he was, looked slitted slightly.

Just then, Kouen's one-eyed gaze came back into focus and scanned slowly over the soccer field, like he was looking for something. Or someone. When it passed over Hitsugaya, it stopped and his pupil dilated. Alex and Rowan stopped their conversation with Karin and turned to look at Hitsugaya, then glanced at Kouen, who was turning several interesting shades of red, his mouth opened slightly.

"Ohh! Somebody catch him! He's gonna-" just then, Kouen fell backwards, his eye rolled back in his head and landed with a 'thump' on the ground, creating a small dust cloud. Alex winced, having been cut off and shook her head. "Crud." she snorted. "Come on, lets attempt to get him up." she sighed and walked with a grumbling Rowan not far behind her.

"What was that all about?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Honestly? I have no clue." Karin lied. A high pitched yelp came from across the field and they turned to see Kouen clutching his head, which was bleeding on both sides, with Alex and Rowan on either side of him with their feet still raised slightly. "Don't you just love how they deal with him?" she muttered staring at them with a raised eyebrow. Hitsugaya was about to agree but a deep rumbling cut him off.

He stared at the man who had just pulled up in a very creepy looking motorcycle. It was dark dark red, almost black, with yellow and orange flames painted on it. Between the handles was what looked like a dog or wolf skull but with horns, and a dim red glow came from the sockets. The man who was on it stepped off and he could see that he was very tall, taller than Kouen, who was busy cursing at Alex and Rowan, the sides of his head still bleeding. When he took his helmet off, he saw that he had unruly black hair that fell just past his shoulders, piercing red eyes that seemed like they could stab your very soul just by glancing at you. He also had three thick, black, scars on each cheek looking vaguely like whiskers.

Kouen stopped his yelling and glared at him. "About time you showed up you damn putz." he literally snarled. For the first time, for he hadn't been paying attention when he had been yelling at the other two, Hitsugaya noticed that his voice was slightly deep and some what smooth. Very fitting for someone with his looks.

"Hey, I got here as fast as I bloody well could. You know as well as I do that my schedule sucks." replied the black haired man in a very deep voice.

"Right... and I think I speak for everyone when I say that I lost all respect for you when you grew your hair out." Kouen snorted. "Now get down here so we can start this stupid waste of time." he said something else in a language that Hitsugaya didn't recognize, but figured that it was either at threat or a curse. Eventually they quit bantering and started the game, which went quickly, but it was difficult to keep the ball. The opposing team had speed and grace that he wouldn't have thought possible for anyone, and the game remained a tie until Kouen got a hold of the ball and dodged around anyone who tried to take it from him. Hitsugaya, who was the goalie at the moment, gulped. He had seen how hard the man could kick when he was on the field. He had kicked the ball so hard that it had nearly knocked out the other goalie when it plowed into his stomach, then into the net, barely loosing any momentum. Now that he was faced with it, he contemplated actually dodging the ball instead of attempting to stop it.

But just as Kouen drew his foot back to kick it, the air changed and a low moan echoed around them. The man changed his position and punted the ball to the right, sending it skyward, and slamming it into a descending... thing, which looked like a mix between a dog and a moose. And it was skin and bones, literally. It screeched and was enveloped in a red fire, vaporizing in mid air. The ball fell back to the ground on the other side of the field. Karin used the other's distraction to take the ball and kick into their goal, winning the game by one point, but no one noticed.

"Rowan! Call Eclipse and ask him what the hell he's doing sending a hell hound here!" Kouen bellowed, glaring at the dirty blond. She yanked her phone out and rapidly punched a number in, and started yelling into it for a couple minutes before hanging up and stuffing it back in her pocket.

"He said he didn't send it."

"What about Cole? He's the commander." Alex said.

"Nope. Not him either. No one sent anything as far as they know."

"Then who did?" Kouen demanded. "Those things just don't pop up here without having a special portal opened for them." he looked ready to shoot something but took a deep breath and sighed.

"What are you three on about?" Hitsugaya asked, confused.

"Nothing." Kouen snapped, not looking at him. He walked away quickly, saying something to Alex as he passed her, she nodded and said something back, and kept going, his hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched. Hitsugaya glared at his retreating form and then glanced at his team mates. Alex, Rowan, and Shadow; he had discovered that that was what he was called; were staring sadly at him and then at Kouen.

"I'll go see if I can calm him down." Shadow said calmly, jogging up to Kouen, who had made it to the top of the hill, stopping him and saying something. Kouen snapped something back that they couldn't hear, and when Shadow persisted, the other punched him in the face, nearly knocking him down, but he caught him by his jacket collar and pulled him back up, muttering something to him before dropping him, and walking away.

Shadow skidded down the hill and up to them. "He's a little mad." he said wiping blood from his lip.

"You don't say." Alex snorted. "The only time he ever punches anyone like that is when there's something he knows that he ain't gonna tell anyone. And that normally means its personal or it hurts him to talk about it." she shook her head and sighed, turning to Karin. "We'll see you guys later. Sorry." she said shortly, following Rowan and Shadow, who had already started to walk away.

Karin bid farewell to everyone else, walking back in her own direction, and Hitsugaya left without a word to anyone, deciding to see where Kouen had sulked off to, and why he was so mad. He hadn't walked for ten minutes when a dark chuckle came from behind him and he was jerked back into a wall. A trashy looking man who reeked of pot grinned at him, showing yellowed teeth and chuckled again and started to inch his face closer. Before he could get too close, Hitsugaya kicked him in his soft spot as hard as he could, sending him sprawling back.

"Why you little-" he cut himself off and made a motion with his hand. Several more trashy looking men came out of the shadows, and they all looked like they had a gun on them. As they started to advance on him, a large figure landed in front of Hitsugaya. It was furry like an animal, but had the figure of a man, standing upright. Broad furry shoulders towered above even the tallest man there and a thick furred tail swished slowly behind it. Hitsugaya could see that it had the looks of a wolf, even in the dim light. He could also see a deep 'x' shaped scar across its back. A deep growl rumbled in its throat and before the could even think to be afraid, they were all sprawled on the ground with slashes across their torsos and throats.

The wolf-man turned slightly to regard Hitsugaya, almost looking at him like he was contemplating killing him as well, but turned all the way around and looked him up and down more fully. Over his left eye was another 'x' shaped scar, and it was an icy blue, in contrast to his other eye, which was green. He reached forward with a large, clawed hand and lifted Hitsugaya up by his middle, almost able to clasp his hand around him fully. He tried to struggle free but the wolf-man's grasp was firm, yet gentle. He drew the boy up until he was almost nose to nose with him and let out a soft sigh.

"Its a shame really." it said in a low growl, surprising Hitsugaya. "That you don't remember who I am. But I suppose that even after 15 long years, it doesn't matter anymore." he glanced away, his green eye sad, quickly masking it with disinterest and turning back to him. "Where do you live? Its best if you're not wandering the streets, even this early in the night."

"Who... what... are you?" Hitsugaya choked out. The wolf-man snorted, a sour smile on his face.

"Who I am is for you to figure out yourself. As for what. I'm what you humans refer to as a werewolf. But don't worry, us lycanthropes aren't as vicious and blood thirsty as you make us out to be. Now then. I answered your questions, now answer mine."

"I... I live in the trailer park downtown with my grandmother. She's the only family I have left, and I would have already moved out if she wasn't so sick and weak." he replied. The werewolf nodded and grasped the skyscraper that he had jumped off of, and started to climb his way up, pulling himself up with one arm, for his other hand was occupied with Hitsugaya, who had buried his hands in his arm fur when they got about twenty feet up, not wanting to fall. When they reached the top, the werewolf dropped down to all fours, placing Hitsugaya on his back and started to run and leap from building to building swiftly. "How many werewolves are there in this town?" the boy asked suddenly.

"I'm not sure. At least a dozen mixed in with the demons and underworld creatures that have assumed animal or human form in the past years." the other replied after a couple minutes. "And I can guarantee that none of them are as nice; or forgiving; as me." he continued in a lower voice.

They were silent for a while before Hitsugaya saw that they had two buildings left before they hit the river. "Uh, you're kind of running out of buildings big guy. Slow it down some."

The werewolf just let out a short bark of laughter and sped up waiting until they had a couple meters left to get ready to jump. Grasping the very edge of the building with his hands, he pushed off as hard as he could and flew through the air, and over half of the river before they started losing altitude. Turning on his side slightly, the wolf pushed off of the air, leaving a small cloud of smoke and landed hard on the top of the bridge. "Unlatch the fingernails if you don't mind." he said, glaring up at Hitsugaya who looked like he was going to either be sick or pass out. But his grip did loosen some and the werewolf leaped off of the bridge and to the next building gracefully.

After another five minutes, a very shaken up Hitsugaya almost literally fell off of the werewolf's back and staggered to the door of the trailer that housed him and his grandmother. He glanced back to see that the werewolf had already left, a small ring of dust where he had been standing and he could see a small dot running through the sky in the direction they had come.

The next day, it was pouring outside and Hitsugaya stared out the window of the trailer, almost hoping to see the werewolf from the night before, but not quite. Around noon though, what he did see was Kouen, who was soaked to the bone, running up to the trailer and got to the door before he could pound on it, waking his grandmother.

"How'd you find out where I lived?" he asked suspiciously.

"I'm good that way. Come with me, a friend of mine wants to ask you some questions." he snorted, looking everywhere but at him. Before Hitsugaya could protest, Kouen grabbed his arm and dragged him out into the rain and practically sprinting to the rail yard.

"Don't you have a car?" Hitsugaya snapped.

"If I did, don't you think I'd use it?" his voice seemed somewhat strangled, like he was either trying not to scream at him, or trying not to cry. He flung the door of one of the longer train-house things open and shoved him inside, following and slamming the door closed. He motioned for Hitsugaya to step back and stiffened up, nearly making the boy fall backwards when red fire flew up from his feet, enveloping him completely and dieing away as quickly as it had exploded forward. When it vanished, Kouen was completely dry and Hitsugaya was staring at him with huge eyes.

"Kouen I swear! If you set my house on fire I'll kill you!" yelled someone from the back.

"Well sorry for trying to dry off. And I got him by the way so get your ass out here." he said calmly staring down a thin hall way with an eyebrow raised. "And I wouldn't really call this place a house."

"And I wouldn't call you apartment an apartment either. I'd call it a dump." Alex said as she came from the back of the train.

"Rowan asleep?"

"Naw. She's uptown seeing if she can smuggle a new computer out of the Best Buy." she replied, getting a small 'oh' from Kouen. She turned to Hitsugaya, analyzing him with her foggy blue-gray eyes before nodding. "Remove the cat from the couch and sit down, I need to have a quick word with moron here." she said, pointing to the couch, which was occupied by a fluffy black cat.

"Since when is my nickname 'moron?'" Kouen growled.

"Since now. That a problem?"

"No, just wondering." he replied quickly, seeming to shrink under the other's glare. Alex nodded and turned around, whisking into the kitchen leaving Kouen to follow, muttering to himself.

_**Ok, yet another weird place to leave off I know, but I like to leave a bit of mystery behind the chapters. Review! Ja!**_


	3. Chapter 3

Dark Wings

Chapter 3- Immortal

"You do know the feds are after you... again... right?" Alex asked Kouen, hoisting herself up on the small counter. Kouen sighed, running a hand through his tousled hair.

"Yeah. That's the real reason Rowan's not here huh? To find out why?" he groaned, leaning back next to her. Alex nodded.

"You don't even know do you?" Kouen shook his head and sighed.

"Though I have a theory." he said absentmindedly. Alex looked at him, prompting him to continue. "I think that some government agents that I put away for conspiracy before I went undercover all those years ago discovered that I was still breathing and did some digging. Then they found my not so impressive record and opened all the cold cases against me. That's a lot as I'm sure you're aware."

"Oh yes my friend. I am." there was a thump outside and the front door flew open, and Rowan dashed inside, soaked through.

"I hate feds..." she panted, passing Hitsugaya up completely and skidding to a halt in the kitchen.

"What'd you get?" Kouen and Alex asked simultaneously.

"A lot actually." she replied. Turning to Kouen she grinned slightly. "Remember that some what old couple that lived next to you before you died?"

"How could I forget? They were the reason I only got, if I was lucky, an hour of sleep in the space of two days."

"They still live there. Here." she tossed a small video camera at him and he caught it, turning it on and staring at the small window as it played the recording back. "Its just sound but that should be enough."

"So what do you remember about Mr. Lycan?" asked a fed, who sounded like he was standing far away.

"Not much..." came an elderly woman's reply. "Wait. I remember now. I remember that he had the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen." the woman seemed pleased with herself for remembering that small, and unhelpful, fact.

"Do you remember anything that could help us?" the fed asked, an edge of irritation to his tone.

"Um... He was all ways yelling at his computer. Or so he says. In the middle of the night, we would just hear him scream. Then our dog at the time started to bark and he would yell at and curse at him. He even shot through the wall at us once."

"Yeah. Only cause you were annoying me..." Kouen muttered, sweat dropping. The clip ended and cut over to another. "Oh my god... they're interviewing my old boss..." he groaned. Snapping the camera closed with an annoyed snort, he tossed it back to Rowan and twitched. "This is ridiculous." he snorted. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and tromped to the front door.

"Hey!" Rowan called after him.

"Where are you going? There's feds crawling all over the place looking for you!" Alex finished. Hitsugaya, whom had been dozing off, bored out of his mind blinked and sat up right.

"Yeah, but they're expecting me to be a forty-one year old man. Not a sixteen year old looking boy." Kouen grunted, not turning around to look at them. He opened the door, slamming it behind him once he was clear, and ran off through the rain.

"Uh. What was all that about?" Hitsugaya asked, turning to the other two. Alex was turning red with annoyance and Rowan was clenching her fist at her side.

"Its a long story." they replied at the same time.

"Well I _was _dragged here through the rain so you could 'ask' me questions. So you might as well tell me his story." he grunted, crossing his arms and glaring at them. They blinked at him, then at each other and both broke out in huge grins.

"Then we may as well get started." both said, making Hitsugaya shiver at the creepy unison they spoke in. Sitting across from him, Rowan on the floor, Alex in a small black wood chair, they started a rapid fire of strange questions. Just as he was about to answer their newest question, 'have you had any strange experiences,' with a stern 'no' he thought for a second.

"Well, last night, when I was walking off to find where that Kouen guy who just ran off, had stormed off to, this... creep came up to me. He called out some goons and when they were about to attack me, this... huge... wolf-man-thing landed in front of me and killed all of them." he paused for a second and Alex took the opportunity to ask another question.

"What did it look like?"

"Well, I couldn't tell color or markings on the fur or anything, but I can say that it was at least nine feet tall, had very broad, muscular shoulders, and had a deep scar on its back, criss crossing it like an 'x', and an identical one across its left eye." they didn't respond directly to him, but glanced at each other, a strange light sparking in their eyes. "Uh. Anyway. He said some strange things then brought me home. It was absolutely amazing to be carried across the buildings, but scary at the same time."

"Said strange things you say?" Rowan asked. "Like what?"

Hitsugaya paused for a moment, trying to remember what the wolf-man had said. He had been too busy trying to escape his grasp to really listen. "He said something like 'its a shame you don't remember me.' Or something... I wasn't really paying attention."

"Well, next time you run into him, and I have a gut feeling that you will, try and keep him with you. Talk to him. Anything." Alex said, a distant look in her foggy eyes. Hitsugaya cringed inwardly at the thought of trying to carry out a conversation with something that was more than twice his height.

"You asked your questions. Now its my turn." he said, trying to change the subject. "What's he like?"

"Who?" they asked at the same time.

"That Kouen person."

"Oh, him. Well, to put it simply. He's about as close to a prince charming as you'll ever get." Alex replied, nodding. Hitsugaya blinked at the blunt reply, taken aback slightly.

"A prince charming?"

"Yeah. There's just one thing." Rowan said, looking down. "About fifteen years ago, he lost someone very, very close to him. And he had a uh..."

"Nervous breakdown. I guess you could say." Alex finished. "Ever since, he's been a bit emotionally unstable. And its been getting worse as the years pass. He gets angry easily, never mind his natural temper, and lashes out with his fist and tongue."

"Wait, you said fifteen years? But he looks sixteen!" Hitsugaya cut in, bewildered.

"That's a bit more difficult to explain. Technically, he's forty-one, but he's the equivalent of a sixteen year old."

"And what about the fire? How was he able to do that?" Alex and Rowan cringed at each other and couldn't seem to find a relevant explanation. "He's not human. Is he?"

"No, he's not." came a very deep voice from behind him. Jumping Hitsugaya spun around on the couch to see Shadow, from the soccer game yesterday standing behind him. "Sorry to drop in like this girls, but I have a request."

"What?"

"Toushiro, could you go into the kitchen for a moment, its a private matter." Shadow said, a gentle undertone to his gruff voice. Nodding, Hitsugaya walked into the kitchen, contemplating eavesdropping, but decided against it. "I think I have an idea of how to get those two back together, memories in tact."

"Well spit it out then!" Alex said, raising an eyebrow.

Shadow elaborated on his plan and the grins on Rowan's and Alex's grins threatened to split their faces when he finished. "Ooh this'll be good." Rowan cackled.

"Yeah, but when its all over with, Kouen'll skin us all." Alex said, dampening the mood by not sugar coating the comment. Rowan punched her shoulder and scowled. "What?!" she whined in an unusually high tone. "Don't get mad at me for pointing out the obvious! I don't sugar coat." she continued, rubbing her abused arm in an undignified fashion.

"We've noticed that before." Rowan said blandly, glaring.

"That's all I needed." Shadow grunted. "I suggest you get Toushiro home. His granny's starting to worry." he snorted and disappeared.

"You're gonna steal the car down the street, aren't you?" Alex asked Rowan through narrowed eyes.

"You bet!"

"Well keep me out of your joy ride!" she snapped, standing up, her arms thrown in the air in exasperation. "And don't kill the kid either. Lord knows what'll happen to us if you do." tromping into the back of the train, she slammed her bedroom door and Rowan stood up, grinning.

"Oi! Toushiro! Let's go!" she yelled into the other room, making Hitsugaya jump slightly at the sudden yelling. He poked his head around the corner and blinked. "C'mon!"

-That Night-

A full moon shone brightly over head as Hitsugaya was dragged along behind Rowan. She had been babbling something about a huge surprise ever since she had jerked him from the trailer earlier. Alex was nowhere in sight, but he had a feeling that she was where ever they were going. He had tried protesting, saying that he could walk just fine on his own, but Rowan didn't seem to hear him, and continued dragging him at an alarming speed.

"So is that Kouen person going to be where ever it is you're taking me?" he asked, wanting to distract her from the strange thought process that she seemed to be sharing with him.

Rowan grinned and nodded. "Yep!" she chirped. She didn't stop, not even when Shadow landed gracefully beside her, seemingly from out of no where.

"You're sure he complied to this?" Shadow asked, not seeming to notice Hitsugaya's presence.

"Yeah. But we injected a slight sedative into his blood stream just to be sure he didn't go wacko and kill someone." she grimaced. "Its hard enough for him to control his instincts on a regular day. Let alone the full moon." Shadow nodded and sprinted on ahead. They soon trotted up to an old theater that looked like it belonged in the early twentieth century.

"Are you going to fill me in on that strange conversation you just had?" Hitsugaya asked, growing impatient.

"You'll find out soon enough." she shoved him into one of the theaters, which was one of the ones with an actual stage instead of a screen. "Find an open seat." she ordered. He noticed that almost every seat was taken, and shivered. He hated large crowds.

Finding a seat near the front, Hitsugaya sunk as low as he could in the seat without looking like an idiot. He blinked in surprise when Rowan ran onto the stage, holding a microphone, a huge grin plastered on her face. "Welcome one and all!" she yelled. "I know its a bit early for a Halloween scare, but with what we've got in store for you will certainly blow you away." her grin widened, if it was possible. "Now, how many of you believe in supernatural beings like vampires and werewolves?"

Several hands were raised, Hitsugaya's among them, for he had had a one on one encounter with what he believed to be a werewolf not that long ago. Skeptical murmurs echoed around the theater and Rowan waited for it to all quiet down before she spoke again. "Good good." she nodded. "For those of you who don't, that's about to change." she signaled to someone off stage and the curtains opened, revealing a man who was tied down to the stage, his arms stretched out to his sides with ropes, and three ropes coming from a thick collar around his neck. His head was bent, so he couldn't see his face, but the auburn hair with slight silver streaks made him wonder who it was.

"Some of you may have noticed that tonight is a full moon. Well, you my friends are about to witness the transformation from man... into beast."

"Hey! That's my band teacher!" cried one of the younger of the audience. "I'd recognize that hair anywhere!" shocked gasps rang out through the crowd as the man lifted his head to reveal that he was none other than Kouen.

"Thanks for the complement kid... that'll definatly show on _your _report card." he sneered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He smirked and glared at Rowan with a 'get it over with' expression. She smirked back and signaled to someone else and a hatch in the roof opened, silver moonlight washing over the dark stage.

A deep growl echoed around the theater and Hitsugaya's eyes widened as he noticed Kouen's shoulders broadening and his face extending. He was growing fur too, and becoming more muscular. His ears disappeared, replaced on the top of his head with wolf ears and before he could register what was happening, Kouen had changed from a man to a werewolf. The patch over his eye had snapped, falling off to reveal a deep 'x' shaped scar over it, changing it from green to ice blue. Hitsugaya gulped as his one eyed gaze swept over the crowd and saw Kouen take in a deep breath of air. A long, ear splitting howl rang out through the air and about half the crowd tried to run for the doors, but found that they were locked.

"Will those ropes hold him?" Hitsugaya wondered out loud.

"No." came a laughing voice beside him. Jumping, Hitsugaya near gave himself whiplash when his snapped his head around to see that Alex was sitting cross-armed beside him. "You'd have a better chance of holding a mad bull in a pen made of feathers than holding _him_ with _anything_ short of pure unicorn horn. And yes unicorns are real. Their horns are the hardest substance known to the supernatural world, harder than diamond even." she snorted and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "He's the most powerful werewolf there is. And he was born human too."

"What are you hoping to accomplish by setting a wild beast loose on all these people?" Hitsugaya snapped. A deep growl shook him to the core and he looked up to see Kouen standing over him, his lip pulled back in a snarl.

"A wild beast am I?" he growled, grabbing Hitsugaya around the neck and pulling him up to be eye level with him. Instantly, Hitsugaya recognized the firm yet gentle grip that held him.

"Y-You're the one that saved me!" he gasped out. Kouen grinned but didn't put him down.

"Easy big guy." Alex said in a calm voice, putting her hand on his arm. Hitsugaya looked down to see that he shackles that were around his wrists had cut deeply into them, as well as his neck, drawing blood. It also looked like he had put up a bit of a fight when he was brought here, because both sides of his mouth had blood running from it, as well as his arm and side. "Put the kid down." she ordered. Kouen growled and tightened his grip around Hitsugaya's neck before setting him down and backing away, his large paw-like feet shuffling silently on the carpeted floor.

Alex jumped onto the stage and motioned for Kouen to join her. Snatching the mic from Rowan, she cleared her throat. "Take your seats or I'll set another big nasty on you. And trust me, he's almost as savage as this one, and a bit more willing to kill." she smirked when the crowd quit trying to pry the doors open and staggered back to their seats, whimpering, shaking, and in some cases crying. Kouen grinned as he stood at an angle behind her, his hands folded behind his back, his silver tipped tail swishing behind him as he sized up the group.

"Now then, one of you has a special scent implanted somewhere on you, both on your clothing and your skin. When we unlock the doors and allow you to leave, we'll let this one go too. He'll track which ever one of you has that scent and hunt you. You may make it, you may not. It depends on how strong his instincts are tonight." a collective shiver rippled through the crowd.

"You soo owe me for agreeing to this." Kouen muttered, just loud enough to be audible in the dead silent theater.

"We paid you three grand!" Rowan snapped from beside him.

"I mean beside money." came his short reply.

"Ahem. Anyway. Beside belly aching about what we paid you, do you have anything to say Kou-chan?" Alex interrupted, twitching slightly.

"Yeah. One; don't call me that! And two; good luck to who ever is the target. You're gonna need a lot of it. I got the best nose out of all the detentions." he said in a somewhat boasting voice. As soon as he finished, the doors swung open and the crowd, minus Hitsugaya because he had some harsh questions for those up on the stage, couldn't get out of there fast enough.

"Again I ask: what do you think you'll accomplish by doing this?!" he cried, glaring at them as he stalked onto the stage. Alex turned to him to answer, but a snort from Kouen made her turn back and glare at the werewolf.

"Go on. But if you're going to rip the person limb from limb, make sure you get it on tape or something." she snapped. Kouen nodded and leaped upward, into the rafters. He broke a hole through the roof and crawled through, the last visible thing they saw of him before he leaped off was his bushy silver tipped tail.

"Answer the goddamn question!" Hitsugaya snapped.

"Fine fine!" Alex cried, holding up her hands defensively. "Nothing really. We're just hoping to spread the joy of knowing that 'mythical monsters' from the early days of humanity are real. And the 'ripping limb from limb' thing is all a joke. Kouen wouldn't hurt a fly. That is, unless someone he's close to is threatened."

"Yeah." Rowan snorted. "You should have seen the rampage he went on when his lover was killed." Alex shoved her, snapping something under her breath at the other while Hitsugaya blinked in confusion and astonishment.

"So who's this person who's marked?"

"Dunno." they said at the same time.

"Shadow's the one who put the 'special scent' on the person." Rowan finished. She looked through the hole in the roof. "Oh look at the time. I gotta go." she said quickly. Hitsugaya took a step back when she changed into a gold and brown striped cat that was roughly the size of a lioness and leaped upward.

Alex sighed and shook her head. "There's really no point in hiding what we really are from you anymore." she groaned. She changed into a pure white cat with a brown tabby striped tail that was just as big as the one Rowan changed into. "C'mon." she said, leaping at him and tossing him onto her back before jumping gracefully up to the rafters and through the hole. Sliding down the steeply slanted roof, she grunted as she landed on the ground and shook Hitsugaya off, flicking her tail as a signal to follow. "You're heavier than you look." she snorted, rolling her shoulders.

"Gee... thanks..." Hitsugaya grumbled, crossing his arms as he walked beside the cat... thing. "What are you anyway?"

"Cat demon. So is Rowan. Shadow's a fox demon, and, of course, Kouen's a werewolf."

"So he's the odd one out."

"How so?"

"Well he's the only one who's not a demon right?" Alex nodded and grinned.

"I never noticed that before. I guess that's because we're all so used to acting human that we forget what we are until we're forced to take action and change forms."

"So what was it that Shadow wanted to talk to you and Rowan about?"

"Hm? Oh. It was something private."

"It involves me doesn't it?" Hitsugaya asked, twitching slightly.

"Yeah, but don't worry. Its nothing bad. And we can't put the plan into action until I can get a hold of a friend of mine who lives in America."

"Another question." Alex glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and continued padding beside him. "Why does Kouen hate me so much?"

Alex didn't answer for a few minutes before she sighed. "He doesn't hate you. He's just hurt. You remind him strongly of someone he loved very much and who was killed before his very eyes... er... eye that is. You look virtually the same too." Deciding not to say any more, Hitsugaya and Alex walked side by side in silence until they reached his home before going their separate ways, not a single word of farewell even rumbling in Alex's throat as she turned and sprinted off.

_**Aaaand.... complete! For this chapter that is. The plot's starting to build a little. And if you're wondering what Shadow's brilliant plot that will get myself and Rowan killed, you'll just have to wait a couple chapters. Review!**_


	4. Chapter 4

Dark Wings

_**Ok, I know I haven't uploaded in a while, but I've been busy... with... other things... Eh heh... anyway... this chapter introduces another friend of mine and centers mainly around Kou-chan.**_

Chapter 4- Crystal Ball

Kouen's ears pricked slightly as he heard indignant yells coming from the soccer field, which he had been told to come to half an hour ago, but just now decided to leave his apartment. _Wonder who's getting their ass kicked? _He wondered absentmindedly. Jogging down the half dozen or so steps to the field, he stifled a small chuckle when he saw Alex almost literally pounding Shadow into the ground. "Having fun without me now are we?" he called, stopping the scuffle.

"Well you took too long getting over here!" yelled the brunette, kicking Shadow one last time in the swimsuit area before trotting over to where she apparently left her jacket and such. Sauntering over to Shadow, Kouen stood on the kitsune's head and smirked.

"So Shadow? Did you have fun having your butt handed to ya by a girl?" he asked cheekily. Shadow let out a muffled snarl that sounded like 'get off me and I'll show you just how much fun I had,' so Kouen hopped off him.

"What put you in such a good mood?" Alex asked, her jacket slung over her shoulder and a bottle of Sprite in her hand.

"I don't know. I just feel like your average teenager today instead of a beaten up old man." he grinned and pulled Shadow up. "So what'd you need?"

"A friend of mine from America's flying in today and I need you to go get her. Me and Shadow here are gonna have to drag Rowan off to Berlin or something so she won't tear the other apart." Alex replied, taking a sip of her Sprite.

"Is it Amanda?"

"Yes it is." came the instant reply from both. To put it simply, one of Rowan's goals in life was to slowly tear Amanda, a small, skinny blond cat demon, limb from limb for various reasons.

"Ah." Kouen nodded and shrugged. "Ok, but I'm going to need a car. I don't think a bull sized wolf sauntering through terminals would be inconspicuous."

"You can borrow my Porsche" Shadow said calmly. Having oodles of cash on hand was something that Kouen envied him for, and made him wish he had been born into royalty instead of a poverty stricken family. Either that or had been born Jewish... but he preferred his Russian/Polish-German/Irish bloodline.

"Thanks, but do you have anything cheaper? And not stick shift? I can't drive those worth my life." the werewolf snorted, a bit sheepish.

"Yeah, I have a F150 you can use. Let me go get it." Shadow vanished on the spot, most likely to go back to the demon realm and retrieve the truck.

"That'll work." turning to Alex he continued. "So when do I have to go pick her up?"

"As soon as we get Rowan sedated. That's the only way we'll be able to get her out of the country. I'll be back by tonight, so you don't have to babysit. Just take her to this address and wait for me to get back. I'm gonna leave Shadow and Flare with stupid so that we can keep her where ever we drop her." Alex explained, handing him a slip of paper for what he assumed to be a hotel.

"Flare?"

"Yeah, that polar bear demon I told you about a couple years ago."

"Oh." Kouen still didn't know who she was talking about, but he went along with it for fear of his own health. "So were you bored when you were beating up on Shadow or did he make some snarky remark?"

"A bit of both." both snickered and jumped slightly when they heard someone clear their throats behind them. Turning around, they saw that Shadow was back, and didn't look to amused. Whether it was the fact that his blood red eyes were glowing or that he was glaring hard enough to melt anything they couldn't decide how they could tell that, but both quickly backed up several paces.

"I took the liberty of putting a strong sedative in Rowan's coffee so she should collapse in the next couple minutes." he growled. "There's your ride Kouen. Try not to total it." he pointed to a dark blue F150 parked by the curb.

"Ah huh... I'm still waiting for those flying cars that they said would be out in 2003. Its 2015 now, and I see no flying cars." Kouen said, trotting past Shadow grinning.

"I swear someone put something in something of his to make him act this way. He hasn't been this perky in _years_." Alex whispered to Shadow, who nodded.

"Really. Or maybe the excitement of Toushiro being reincarnated is finally working its way through his system."

"Maybe." the ground at their feet exploded the second Alex muttered the word. The two of them yelped and jumped back, almost literally dancing out of the way of the red flames that licked at their heels.

"Let's also not forget that I'm not human and can hear everything you say." Kouen snarled at them, hiding his amusement with annoyance. Climbing in the truck, he drove off grumbling to himself. He did so for a while before he got sick of listening to himself and turned the radio on, blasting techno that would be too loud for human ears, let alone his.

Pulling into one of the only available parking spaces left at the airport, Kouen stopped short and groaned when he remembered that he hadn't seen Amanda in 25 years, and she hadn't seen him since before he got the scars on his face. She probably wouldn't recognize him unless Alex had sent a recent picture, which there were none except his employee photo at the middle school, to her. At least he knew what she looked like, so even if she didn't know who he was, he could still drag her out of the airport kicking and screaming.

_I can't believe I'm saying this but this could be one heck of an adventure... getting a scrawny little blond girl- with supernatural powers- out of an airport and to a hotel without getting beaten to a pulp or arrested. Oh yeah, lots of fun. _He groaned mentally, cursing his perpetual bad luck. _I swear I've been cursed._

At least he knew which terminal to go to. But whether her plane would be on time or not was a mystery. _Flying cars my ass end. We needed those in the 80's when _I_ was a kid. At least then people drove with a little bit of sense... I'm just grateful I don't live in California... anymore._

Having spent a couple years in California had really changed his view of crazy driving and bad acting. That had been _in _the 80's when he was about nine or so. He groaned inwardly and stuffed his hands in his leather jacket, heaving a huge sigh, keeping a keen eye (pun intended) out for Amanda. He watched the incoming/outgoing screen intently, waiting with slight impatience for the girl's plane to land.

"Oh not you again..." muttered a voice behind him. Kouen turned halfway around and blinked in surprise when he saw Hitsugaya standing behind him with a backpack slung over his shoulder. "Are you stalking me?" he demanded.

"Only in your dreams." Kouen practically growled, trying not to sound too harsh. "I'm here to pick up a friend of a friend." he paused, almost not asking his next question. "Why are _you_ here?"

"I'm waiting for a friend too. They asked me to bring a backpack with extra clothes, why I have no idea." came Hitsugaya's disgruntled reply, not meeting Kouen's eye.

"I'm sure..." a flash of blond caught his eye and his head snapped in the direction of it. "There you are." he muttered, stalking over to Amanda and grabbing her shoulder. She jumped and smothered a screech, spinning around ready to slap and, or, punch the other. She stopped when she looked into Kouen's single bright, yet dark, green eye and she cocked her head.

"Kouen?" she asked hesitantly.

"Damn straight." he replied with a bright undertone. "How long have you been hunting for a familiar face?"

"About twenty minutes." Amanda waved it off and swiped Kouen's hand off her shoulder. Blinking, grinning sheepishly, Kouen took a breath to say something. A man rushing past them carried the scent from Hitsugaya's direction and Kouen's eyes snapped open and he turned abruptly toward the white haired one. Narrowing his eyes, he stalked over to the boy and snatched the backpack off his shoulder, unzipping it roughly. His eyebrows shot into his hairline as he peered inside. Several large bags of various drugs and a couple pipe bombs were inside it, as well as a few other weapons. He glared at the boy and grabbed him roughly by the front of his shirt.

"What the hell is this?" he snarled, remaining as calm as he could. Hitsugaya was trying to suppress his shaking as he saw a dangerous light flit across Kouen's good eye. "Why do you have all this?"

"I... I don't ask questions... I do as I'm told to get money to support my grandmother and myself." he stammered out. The same dangerous light dance in the other's eye and he let out a sharp snort, placing him back on his feet but not letting go of him or the bag.

"You get to come with me. Amanda, go to baggage claim and get your things. I need to have a serious talk with this one." he glanced at Amanda, who nodded frantically and dashed off. Kouen turned back to Hitsugaya and growled. "'I do as I'm told to get money.' Bullshit. You're old enough to get a hardship license and job. If you're in too deep, then let the police, myself, or any of my friends take care of it. And why don't you put your grandmother into an assistant living home if she's so sick?"

"I can't afford it. We've never had a lot of money."

"Hey! What are you doing to him?" yelled a voice behind Kouen. He turned slightly, still holding Hitsugaya's shirt tightly, staring at the sloppy looking man who had spoken. "I'll take the bag. Its mine." Kouen raised an eyebrow before smirking.

"Oh really? Here you go then." he tossed the open bag at the man before screaming, "BOMB!!! THERE'S A BOMB!! EVERYONE OUT!!!" at the top of his lungs. Everyone started screaming and frantically rushed for the doors while Kouen grabbed Amanda, who had returned, and dragging her and Hitsugaya out the door. He threw Hitsugaya into the backseat while Amanda got in the front seat. He started the truck and screeched out of the parking structure, taking the curves faster than what should be possible. Clearing his throat, Kouen stifled a grin. "My voice is going to be gone tomorrow."

"Really. I didn't know you could get that loud." Amanda commented, glancing at him.

"Neither did I." the werewolf replied with a snort. They were silent the rest of the trip to the hotel to drop Amanda off at, leaving her there, and speeding off to Kouen's apartment, Hitsugaya still in tow.

"How are you able to drive when you're half blind?" the boy asked suddenly, deciding to break the awkward silence.

"I just am." Kouen replied coldly, trying to keep his emotions in check. He'd like nothing more than to be as nice as possible to the boy, but after the _two_ times he had died, Kouen decided that it would be better to remain distant. But of course fate had to work against him.

Hitsugaya peered into the mirror and blinked at the amount of absolute agony in Kouen's green eye. Not physical pain, but emotional. _What caused him this sort of pain?_ He thought. He swallowed a gasp as blurred images flashed through his mind.

_"W-well... l-l-looks... looks li-like I... I l-loose. Eh? B-Buddy?" a beaten up and bloody Kouen stammered out, blood pouring from his mouth, back and eye. The light slowly drained from his uninjured eye and he let out his final breath as a single tear slid down his cheek._

_Kouen drooped and coughed up blood as Hitsugaya jerked Hyourinmaru out of his chest, having grazed the wolf's heart. He heard a grunt of pain before the werewolf looked up with a smirk. "I... I remember..." he whispered before collapsing._

_The werewolf gazed down at the half dead taicho below him with sightless eyes. He knew that the other was dying, and wished he could have prevented this. He hugged the other close and gently laid him on the floor, staggering to his feet._

Shaking his head to clear the images, Hitsugaya stared at the back of Kouen's head. _Is there more to this, to him, then I originally thought? There must be, those images were of me, but at the same time not of. I've never handled a sword in my life! Nor have I ever seen him that bloody._ He mused, trying to delve deeper into the images, but frowned when he realized that he could only remember small slivers of them.

-Alex and Amanda-

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Amanda asked Alex, who was stretched out on the small couch that occupied part of the hotel suite.

"No. In fact, I know its not a good idea, but Shadow seems convinced that it'll work." she sat up and grinned at the blond. "Besides, I'm sure they'll thank us... eventually." the grin faded, replaced by a completely serious look. "Time to commence operation 'Regain Toushiro's Memories.'"

"Right. Which precedes operation 'Avoid Kouen's Wrath'" she shook her head in dismay.

"Oh shut up and cast the damned spell already! You're gonna jinx us."

"That's your thing Alex."

"True, that's why I'm such a pessimist. Every time I say something positive the opposite happens, so I counter act it with negative and sarcastic, biting comments that could freeze a volcano or melt a glacier." Amanda shook her head again and murmured some incantations, staring into an ice blue crystal ball that lay in front of her on the table.

-Kouen and Hitsugaya-

"Sit your rear end down there and don't move if you value your ability to walk." Kouen growled, pointing at his tattered couch. It had his blanked and pillow on it, but that was only because his mattress was broken with several sharp springs sticking up out of the fabric and sticking him in the sides and back. He refused to sleep on it now.

He stalked into the kitchen and pressed his hand against the wall above the sink. A section of wall turned, revealing high tech monitors and radars. Sliding his fingers across a touch screen to look through some files, he searched for the man at the airport whom the drugs and bags had belonged to. He found his files and snorted inaudibly when he saw that he was a known terrorist in America, Germany, and Japan. _Well, I guess I've played my part of peace keeper/chaos bringer for the day. _He thought with a smirk. Sliding his fingers back across the touch screen, the panel turned back around and faded seamlessly into the wall. Turning the corner to go back to the living room, he suddenly was struck with nausea and leaned heavily on the wall. His vision swam and he fell to the ground, vaguely hearing a muffled thump from the other room.

-Some hours later-

_Holy nuts... my head..._ Kouen groaned inwardly. He propped himself up on his hands and knees and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw sand below him. _I'd better not be in Suna..._ he grunted, sitting up, rubbing his head. He started when he saw an endless expanse of ocean a few meters away, glancing behind him, he saw a thick rain forest, and a long chain of mountains stretched for a few miles before fading back to coast line. "I'll kill them. I will make them _beg_ for death." he snarled, scrambling to his feet. "I can't believe they dropped me on _Jin's _Island! Jin's Island! Ohh..." he let out an agonized moan and buried his face in his hands. "This in unbelievable."

"What is?" said a groggy voice below him. Kouen jumped a good two feet in the air and looked down, seeing Hitsugaya sprawled out on the sandy ground.

"Now I'll _really _kill them." he grunted under his breath. Speaking a bit louder, he muttered; "Oh just the fact that my so-called friends dropped the two of us in the worst place imaginable. Well, for me anyway. You wouldn't really know what I mean by that." _Let's just pray that he doesn't live here anymore. _Kouen thought with a wince, having figured out the plan that had been running through Alex, Shadow, Rowan, and Amanda's heads for some time. _But then fate has a habit of working against me now doesn't it. _

_**And end! If you're wondering who Jin is, you'll have to wait until the next chapter. Or try and figure it out on your own if you want. Let me know what you think of it!**_


	5. Chapter 5

Dark Wings

_**Ugh... Look I know its been a while since I updated but... I don't really have an excuse actually. Well, enjoy anyway!**_

Chapter 5- Jin's Island Part 1

"Hey! Do you think you could slow down a little? Not all of us are outdoors men." Kouen heard Hitsugaya yell at him from a couple meters back, probably struggling over the fallen log that he had just jumped over. Sighing, he stopped and waited, deciding to take in the surroundings to see if he recognized anything. Nothing but tropical trees, ferns, and a giant spider web directly above his head.

Jumping about a foot in the air, Kouen nearly snapped his neck to look up, shrinking back when he saw not one, but about ten enormous spiders, about as tall as him, glaring down at him with hungry eyes. "Oh great." he practically squeaked, shaking. He was going to bolt, but remembered Hitsugaya just in time to grab him and sprint as fast as he could away from the spider nest. Digging his heels into the ground, he let go of the bewildered boy and sat down heavily. "Damn it all. I hate spiders." he panted.

"You're scared of spiders?"

"No I'm not scared of them. They just freak me out." Kouen snapped impatiently. Standing up, he dusted himself off. "Come on, we have to get to that stupid mountain before we get eaten." looking up, he winced at the threatening looking dark gray clouds hanging overhead. "Or get rained on." he sighed, running a hand through his unruly hair. A crack of thunder split the air and the sky opened up as though his words had done it. The pair was drenched in about two seconds. "Damn it... come on." the werewolf growled, trudging across the leaf covered ground that, knowing his luck, was part of a flood plain.

**-Amanda and Alex-**

"Was that you or just bad weather?" Alex asked, sipping on a cup of coffee absently, standing behind Amanda, who was looking in her handy little crystal ball. The blond shook her head.

"Nope, just bad weather. Its the tropics after all. We're gonna have to send them extra clothes so they don't die of hypothermia." she commented.

"What do you mean they? Toushiro's the only one at risk."

Amanda turned to glare at her. "No I mean they." at Alex's confused look, the blond clarified. "I blocked Kouen's powers so he can't just run across the ocean to come kill us. He's probably figured that out by now. That's the reason he's leading Toushiro to the mountain. There's a radio tower there that they can use to get some help."

"Damn, I forgot about the tower." she thought for a minute before snapping her fingers. "I got it. Instead of just having Jin observe them, acting as our link, how about we have him interact, keeping them away from the tower as long as he can." Alex nodded, proud of her plan, then frowned. "Did you just block Kouen's speed or all of his powers?"

"Just his speed. He runs like a professional sprinter now instead of a leer jet."

The two demons were silent for a couple heartbeats before they agreed on Alex's plan. "Though this could get him killed." Amanda sighed.

**-Kouen-**

Kouen sighed inwardly from his place across the small fire he had made from Hitsugaya. He was not only bored, but miserable. Not from cold, but from the fact that his friends seemed hellbent on annoying him to no end, and the fact that he knew what exactly the place he was at was. They had managed to find a small cave behind a waterfall that fell into a small lagoon. It had taken about half an hour of trekking through knee deep water, but at least they were out of the rain now. Hitsugaya was asleep, curled into a small ball to keep warm, as close to the fire as he could get without being burned.

He glanced absently past the waterfall as thunder boomed again outside, followed by a flash of lightning and another boom. Deciding that he had nothing better to do, he laid on his back and closed his eyes. If he knew the enchantment the island was under, then they would wake up in the same cave, but in the tundra or a pine forest. But it would still be the same island, which pissed him off to no end.

It felt like it had only been a couple moments when he opened his eyes again. The fire had gone out and a chilly breeze was blowing into the cave. He heard teeth chattering to his left and turned his head to see Hitsugaya curled up in the fetal position, awake, but freezing. _But of course we get the freakin tundra. _Kouen growled to himself.

A flash blinded him temporarily, and he glared at the entrance to the cave. The werewolf raised an eyebrow when he saw that a backpack had appeared. Rolling his eyes, Kouen leaned forward to grab it. Yanking it back, he opened it and saw that there was a heavy jacket inside, which he instantly tossed to Hitsugaya before he froze to death. There was also food, water, and an extra change of clothes for both of them.

"If they think that this is going to get them out of me beating them to bloody pulps then they have another thing coming." he snarled, closing the bag and slinging it on his back. "Come on. This is still the same island, same features, but different climate. It changes every day."

"How do you know?" Hitsugaya challenged, standing as well and following the taller one out of the cave into the biting cold.

"I've been trapped on this god forsaken island before that's how. Now stay close. We could be on an ice pack for all we know." he lead the way toward the mountains, which would always be in the distance, no matter the climate. He was still in only a short sleeved shirt, jeans, and some old brown combat boots. Not exactly winter wear, but he didn't feel the cold thanks to his affinity with fire. He could still hear Hitsugaya's teeth chattering.

After trekking for about an hour, Kouen stopped, making Hitsugaya run into him. Kouen didn't notice, he was listening to the ice. He felt the bottom drop out of his stomach and the blood drain out of his face as the ice cracked a couple feet in front of him. He only had time to say "Oh shit." before the ice gave out behind him, sending Hitsugaya down a tunnel with the werewolf following him a couple feet behind. He felt a hand grab his ankle and took the opportunity to dig his clawed hands into the ice on either side of the tunnel they were sliding down. His ears twitched slightly when he heard a small splash below them and looked down to see the icy water a foot from Hitsugaya's feet. "Woah..." he breathed, a small cloud being emitted. There was another splash, but louder and Kouen yanked Hitsugaya up as a large seal shot out of the water with its mouth wide open, sharp teeth ready to chomp down on the boy's foot. Kouen felt Hitsugaya slide back down the tunnel, landing on his neck, making him gag slightly as his air was cut off.

The seal lunged again and Kouen took his foot and kicked it in the snout, feeling bone crunch. His vision going dark from lack of oxygen, he grunted, "Start climbing I can't breathe!" after a painful second, he felt the weight disappear from his neck. Gasping, he started inching his way up the tunnel, knowing that if Hitsugaya slipped, they would both go into the water with the seal and his friends. Not a good scenario.

It seemed like forever before they managed to haul themselves out of the tunnel. Deciding it was best if they got back onto thicker ice, they hurried to the shore, which was freezing rock and snow. Better than the risk of falling into icy water though. Collapsing on a couple of boulders, they sat in silence, catching their breath.

"So..." Kouen breathed. "You warmed up yet?"

**-Alex and Amanda-**

"So where are we going to have Jin herd them?" Amanda asked, trying to hold in her laughter as she watched Hitsugaya crawl out of a hole with Kouen following after a slight pause, coming up backwards. Alex glanced over from her sprawled position on the couch. She was reading a book called Dragonkin and didn't appreciate being disturbed. She didn't reply, but sniffed and turned back to her book. Amanda twitched slightly, faking a grin. "Answer the question."

"The Mecha Bull. Where else? Its the only dangerous place on the island."

"Except any ten mile vicinity where Kouen and Jin are face to face." Amanda quipped.

"Or that." Alex muttered absently, not really caring or paying attention.

"Think I should put a possession spell on the imps?"

"Sure. Whatever. Now shut up." Alex growled. Amanda rolled her eyes, turning back to the crystal and muttering some incantations.

**-Kouen-**

"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" Kouen cried as they came upon an enormous cliff, at least one hundred feet up, and it didn't look like there was any way around it. "This is just great... we're never going to get off this island." he continued to mutter to himself, with Hitsugaya sighing and shaking his head behind him. A small bit of brightness caught his eye on the backpack, and he peeled off a small sticky note. _'Hi Kouen, hi Toushiro! Hope you like your time on the island, and the little surprise we have for you! -Alex and Amanda'_ it said.

"Uh, I don't know if this is good for the health of the island, but here." the boy said, handing the note to Kouen. He watched in amusement as the werewolf slowly pulled it away from his face, squinting his eyes, obviously far sighted. As soon as he read it though, it was almost plastered to his face and he was cursing in several languages that Hitsugaya didn't recognize. He crumpled the paper and set it on fire, his face an interesting, angry shade of red. A small patch of lichen near by caught on fire. The rock it was rooted on started to melt.

Before the werewolf could melt the whole of the island, a large orange and black form bundled the fuming boy over, making him squawk indignantly. It was a massive tiger with vertical stripes, cream paws, a white chest and stomach and a yellow streak running from its forehead to between its shoulders. Its tail was flicking happily, and Hitsugaya could swear it was grinning. "Yer cute when yer pissed." it practically purred.

Kouen peeled his face out of the snow, spitting out a mouthful of snow. "Get the hell of me you filthy bastard!" he yelled, flipping over and throwing the tiger into the cliff with a roundhouse kick. He stood up, ignoring the slush that was all over the front of his shirt, glaring venomously at the tiger as it stood. "Don't you touch me or I swear I'll castrate you." he snarled. That made Hitsugaya wonder if he had a history with the tiger.

The tiger shook the snow out of its pelt and grinned. "Aw come on now. Don't tell me you're still beating around that bush."

"You bet I am. And I will be until the day you shrivel up and die. Now get lost. Go play with the seals." Kouen snarled, his glare becoming almost laser quality. He stomped past the tiger, Hitsugaya being sure to be on his heels. He had a feeling that if he hesitated, he would be left behind, and die of cold or get eaten by the tiger. The boy had to jog to keep up.

After about a mile, Kouen came to a stop, his hands still clenching and unclenching at his sides, but he seemed to have calmed down. A little anyway. His face had at least returned to its normal tan shade, instead of angry red. He suddenly let out a yell and swung his fist into the cliff, creating a crater that was a deep as his arm was long, and just as wide. Hitsugaya looked at the werewolf's face, his single pupil was a small slit, his canines had elongated into sharp, deadly fangs that stuck out of his mouth, the naturally blood-red tips looking foreboding. His hair even looked a bit wilder. _Wouldn't want to run into that in a dark alley. _The shorter boy thought.

"Damn them all..." Kouen suddenly growled. He stepped forward, pounding both his fists on the cliff, though not hard enough to make another crater. He rested his head on the rock and let out a sigh. "Why here of all places? Why here? The _underworld_ would be better than this." he muttered to himself, his voice sounding choked, like he was trying not to cry.

Deciding to be bold, Hitsugaya asked, "So what's so bad about this island anyway? Was it that tiger?"

"Let's just say he doesn't have a good history with me." said a voice behind the boy. He spun around, looking up into the face of a blond haired boy, about seventeen or eighteen. His hair had black and orange streaks, and his eyes were purple. His almost cocky grin made him think that this boy was the tiger. He was wearing a white shirt under a gray jacket with blue jeans and sneakers, simple but decent.

"Get lost Jin!" Kouen nearly screamed at him.

_So Jin's his name?_ Hitsugaya thought.

Jin sauntered past Hitsugaya, up to Kouen, who looked to angry to move. He did a full circle around the werewolf, stopping behind him and chuckling. "I'm surprised that you haven't killed me yet. Still hanging onto those bonds are we?" he snickered.

"Only in your sick dreams." Kouen growled, trying to keep what little cool he had left. Jin just chuckled again bringing a hand up as if to touch Kouen, but obviously thought better of it as he growled threateningly.

"So, have you figured out why you're here yet?" the only reply was another growl. "Of course you have. You always were the smart one. You pride yourself in proving Einstein's and Newton's theories wrong right? Well, if you need any help, just call." he said, leaning close to the fuming werewolf's ear, making him stiffen. "You know that I'll always come." he whispered, nearly purring. Kouen's growl became deeper, more guttural, and you could barely see his pupil, and his canines were so long he could have almost passed for a saber toothed tiger. Hitsugaya knew that things were going to get bad very fast.

Before he could blink, Kouen had spun around, grabbed Jin by the neck, and slammed him into the cliff, snarling like a rabid animal. He wrenched his arm behind his back, pulling it up until Hitsugaya heard an unhealthy snap. "This is the part where I kill you." Kouen growled in the tiger's ear, grinning sadistically. There was a small sound, like a muffled gunshot, and Hitsugaya looked down to see the werewolf's hand surrounded in red fire. As he was bringing his hand up to ram it through the back of Jin's head, his single pupil suddenly expanded and he leaped back, clutching his ears, letting out a howl.

"Thank you Amanda..." Jin breathed, rubbing at the back of his neck. He glanced at Hitsugaya and clarified. "Dog whistle, kills his ears supposedly. I wouldn't know. I haven't seen him in 26 years." he looked back to Kouen, who was still clutching his ears, agony written on his face. "I'd better get out of here before he shakes it off." winking at Hitsugaya, he leaped half way up the cliff and flipped over the other half, vanishing from sight.

**-Alex and Amanda-**

"So that's your plan? To get Jin killed?" Amanda snapped, cutting off the dog whistle. She glared at Alex, who shrugged sheepishly.

"It sounded good at the time. Let's just go with it. If he keeps his distance and doesn't get Kouen mad like this again, he should be fine." she looked back to the crystal, looking through Jin's eyes as he peered back over the cliff side at the pair. Kouen had fallen to his knees, and was still clutching his head, his ears probably feeling like they would fall off his head any second.

Amanda looked too, then turned her eyes back to Alex. "So what sort of history does Jin have with him?"

Alex looked sharply at her, before understanding came over her expression. "Ah yes, we never told you about that. Well, you see. Jin and Kouen had been... involved when Kouen was fifteen, but Jin vanished without a trace one day, being banished to the island when his reputation as a jewel smuggler caught up to him and bit him in the ass. It shattered Kouen in every way. He's never taken loss well, I guess he's always had that pack unit instinct where he attaches himself to anyone he's close to and sticks to them. Anyway, Shadow thought it would be a good idea to let Kouen know that Jin hadn't abandoned him, but he took it the wrong way from the start and had started harboring this deep hatred for Jin. No amount of convincing would make him see him face to face voluntarily, so Shadow had his granddaughter; who's also a sorceress slash archer slash fox demon; send him to the island. It didn't go well. Kouen ran at Jin with a sharpened stick, threatening to cut off Jin's valuables if the tiger came anywhere near him. Still being human, if he had given chase, he wouldn't have caught him, but it still scared Jin." Alex shook her head with a sigh. "Its sad really."

"With a bit of humor in there but yes." Amanda complied. She figured that there was more that Alex wasn't telling her, but shook it off quickly. Placing her hand on the crystal, she spoke into Jin's mind. "You alright there Jin?"

_"Yeah. I just feel like I got my neck and shoulder stepped on by a mountain ox. But other than that just peachy." _his voice rang in the room. Alex placed her hand on the crystal.

"Don't get snarky you. Look, I know that plan failed, but Amanda's going to take control of the imps and have them take Toushiro so you don't have to get yourself killed."

"I am?"

"Yes you are." Alex growled, looking pointedly at the other cat demon.

_"Wait, you're going to send them to the Mecha Bull? Are you nuts?"_

"Well tomorrow the island turns into a pine forest right?" Jin muttered a soft yes. "That's the only time that the Mecha Bull's fortress is there. So yes. Unless you want them slowly loose their minds like you almost did from being trapped there."

_"Whatever. When they die, I'll kill you in your afterlife." _

**-Jin-**

The Mecha Bull. Jin couldn't believe that they were going to send them into the Mecha Bull's fortress. He was trotting along the cliff side, following the pair through the tundra as they looked for a way to get around the cliff. Jin knew that there was a canyon about half a mile ahead that they could take that would cut right to the mountain that had the radio tower. Then they had to climb the mountain, which would be like climbing Mt. Everest. Every now and then, he knew that Kouen got the sense that they were being followed and looked around, sniffing the air and listening. Jin figured that his hearing and nose were strengthened not only when he became a werewolf, but when he was blinded in one eye. Jin's heart wrenched when he recalled the gnarly scars that crisscrossed Kouen's left eye, and the icy emptiness that had replaced the bright, intelligent, but dark and thoughtful and somewhat depressed green of his right. It scared him that one person could go through so much, and still hide his broken spirit, still go on with everyday life instead of curling into a ball and shriveling into nothingness.

_My name's supposed to mean justice so why can't I do anything to help him?_ He thought. Though Jin already knew the answer. He was partially responsible for Kouen's agony. He could still remember his unmarred human face, grinning with his eyes closed, the edges crinkling as the grin threatened to split his face in two. Why couldn't he go back to that happier time when Kouen would actually speak to him and not hate his very being?

Sighing, he glanced down the cliff side again to see Kouen turned to Hitsugaya, pointing at something in the frozen forest they had entered. The snow covered pines provided little shelter from the biting cold and wind, and it had started to snow. They suddenly broke into a run, Kouen deliberately slowing his pact so Hitsugaya, who had much shorter legs but was still fast, could keep up. A polar bear burst out of the trees, standing on its hind legs and roaring at them as they fled. It gave chase, closing the distance quickly as Jin watched in horror. He knew that any help from him would go unappreciated, and knew that Kouen could take care of himself, so he didn't intervene.

Kouen stopped, throwing off the backpack and changing into his wolf form, standing in the ankle deep snow to take the bear head on. When it got with in a meter of them, he roared in its face, a ferocious sound that made the pines shake and drop snow. The bear stopped, fear on its face, but it reared up to smash down on Kouen's head. The werewolf dodged at the last instant, jumping up and latching his jaws on the bears ear, making it rear up again, snarling in agony as the wolf yanked his head back, ripping the ear off. Blood smeared the bear's white fur and it spun in rapid circles, yelping and growling in pain, trying to dislodge the wolf.

Kouen was thrown off and smacked into the cliff, falling limply in the snow, stunned for an instant. As he rose to his paws, the polar bear charged at him in a blind rage. Lips pulled back in a snarl, Kouen opened his mouth as the bear reared, there was a small bang, and fire exploded from his mouth. It scorched the bear's underside, making it backpedal and fall to the side, tossing its head as its skin and fur burned. It turned to Kouen again, fury and pain burning in its eyes. Kouen opened his mouth again and the fire came forth again, torching its face. The bear reared, swiping at its face as Kouen continued his onslaught of fire and eventually it was nothing but a skull and a heap of burned flesh. It remained standing for an instant before it teetered and fell forward, burned skull an inch from Kouen's paws.

The stench of burning flesh and fur wafted up to Jin, making him gag. He was appalled and amazed by the power and ruthlessness with which Kouen fought, not batting an eye when he killed. He listened closely as Kouen trotted over to Hitsugaya, who looked like he was going to be sick.

"Don't look at me like that. I don't enjoy killing, even though it seems to be the profession that I'm stuck in. Let's go. That was a female, she probably has adolescent cubs near by who can put a good fight too. And I don't kill children." he growled, barely heard above the wind as it howled a bit louder, ruffling Jin's fur and making him shiver. There was obviously more to Kouen than he originally thought.

_** Ok, here's part 1 of this two part chapter. The next one will be the rest of the tundra climate and the pine forest up to the Mecha Bull. Hope you enjoyed!**_


	6. Chapter 6

Dark Wings

_**Any part with Kouen and Hitsugaya is told from Kouen's point of view for this one., just so none of you are confused. And he's gone from calling Hitsugaya "Hitsu" to calling him Toushiro.**_

Chapter 6- Jin's Island part 2

I blinked drowsily up at the setting sun, folding my ears back against the harsh arctic wind that seemed to be laughing at our misfortune. We had been walking all day, and I could hear Toushiro's teeth chattering loudly a foot or so behind me, and knew that we had to find shelter before he froze to death. Luckily, the snow covered pines cut the wind some so he wasn't a complete ice cube yet. We were surrounded on both sides by canyon walls, but there was enough room for some trees to grow and block the cold, but also block the weak sun that was trying to reach us. Despite my control over my body temperature, and my fur, I shivered. Cold had never really agreed with me.

I spied a fallen log off to the right. It looked like an old fox set, so I trotted through the six inch deep snow to go investigate it. Sticking my nose inside, I was relieved to find it abandoned, but it was too small for two people to get in. Reaching out with one paw, I started scraping at the frozen earth, flinging dirt behind me. I knew that I looked like an idiot, half-in half-out of the set, but if it meant we could get out of the cold, then so be it. I eventually made it big enough for me to squeeze in and be able to scrape at the walls and the tunnel so that it would be big enough for Toushiro and I to be comfortable, but not wake up unable to move from stiffness. His name still made my heart clench.

Sneezing as some dust tickled my nose, I pawed the small pile of frozen dirt out and continued digging. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Toushiro make his way over to the log and sit on top of it, dropping the backpack outside the entrance. Poking my head out, I shook some dirt off and glanced up at him. "If you're freezing too badly, I could make a fire for you." I offered, deciding that it was better to try and play nice instead of let my emotions control my life. Again. He nodded, shivering violently, even under the thick jacket.

I wriggled out of the set, I ripped some sparse bushes out of the ground and set them ablaze after digging a small hollow in the ground so I didn't start a forest fire. Toushiro inched over to the fire, sitting down with a sigh and sticking his hands close to the flames. His eyes were locked on me though. At first I figured that it was because I was covered in snow and dirt, but I noticed that his gaze was centered on my back. "What?" I asked, twitching an ear.

"Did you get that scar the same place as the one on your face?" he asked through chattering teeth. My first instinct was to go on the defensive, but I just exhaled heavily, closing my eyes.

"Yeah." I breathed, padding past him and squeezing back into the set, scraping it out some more. I was thankful that my claws were nice and sharp and hard to wear down. Kicking another mound of dirt out of the set, sneezing again, and turning, I inspected the set. It was almost big enough, but the sun was almost set so it would have to do. Sticking my head out, I grabbed the backpack and transformed back to my human form inside the set, thankful that my boxers were still in tact for once. My shirt and pants had been ruined by my transformation and by the fight with the polar bear, so I had left them back with the corpse, sticking my boxers in the backpack.

Adjusting my shirt and brown bomber jacket, I crawled out of the set with a can of Chef Boiardee in my hand and a small pot in the other. I wouldn't eat tonight to save our rations. I could go for a month or more without food if pushed, but I was hoping it wouldn't come to that. Kicking a smaller log over, I sat down on one end, Toushiro crawling onto the other. There wasn't a pop tab in the top of the can, so I stiffened my fingers and tore the top of that way, dumping the pasta into the pot and holding it over the fire, wiping my other hand off in the snow and covering the stain. Tapping my foot impatiently on the ground, I passed the pot over to Toushiro when it started to steam.

"What about you?" he asked, concern written across his face. I averted my gaze, staring blankly into the flames.

"There's three cans in the backpack. I can go a long time without food, but if I get desperate, I'll hunt. Don't worry about it." I sniffed. Fishing a pocket knife out of my pocket, I tossed it over to him. "Use that as a fork if you want. Its sharp so be careful not to slice your mouth open." a strong gust of wind blew, making the fire flicker, almost extinguishing it. I opened my hand and the fire rose about ten feet in the air and as I closed my hand it dropped to a reasonable size. Twirling a finger, I separated a small strand from the main inferno, watching with an idle expression as I twitched my fingers, making it dance over my hand and between my fingers like a worm or snake.

"How do you do that?" Toushiro asked, half finished with his meal. I glanced over at him and could help but grin when I saw a bit of sauce on his cheek.

"You got a little.." I tapped on my own cheek, making him jump and wipe it away quickly. "To answer your question, I don't know. When I was turned into a werewolf I gained the ability to control fire. The only kind I can't control if black, or hell fire. Its the most powerful fire in the world. Only three people that I know in this world can control it. Eclipse, the keeper of the underworld. Shadow, and..." I trailed off. Taking a deep breath, I sighed. "My mother..." my eyes blurred as I was lost in my memories.

I had found out from my half-brother, Mizu, a young werewolf, that our mother had apparently been a powerful sorceress, able to easily out do Amanda and Shadow's granddaughter, but when she was killed by my step-father, Akamizu when I was four, she hadn't gone to the werewolf realm like myself and Akamizu. She had gone right to Soul Society, but for some reason that's beyond me, she had kept in touch with Akamizu, and about twenty years ago Mizu was born. He was a half-blood so he aged a bit fast than I would... if I were still aging. He was now the equivalent of an eight year old, but was almost as smart as me, which was scary.

Blinking out of the memories, I twirled the strand of fire again and sent it back into the fire. Making sure Toushiro was done eating, I put waved my hand and put the fire out, taking the pot and my knife from him and cleaning both in the snow. "Go ahead and go in there. Just make sure you leave enough room for me."

"Where are you going?"

"For a walk. There's some things on my mind that I need to think about in private." I sighed, waving slightly as I shuffled through the snow, making sure to keep an eye on the moon. If I stayed out too long, the climate would change and I wouldn't be able to find Toushiro again until it went back to the tundra, which would take about nine days. By then he'd be dead. Again.

**-Alex and Amanda (normal pov)-**

"No no no no no!" Alex cried as she watched Kouen walk away from Toushiro. "Why is he walking away? He shouldn't be _walking away_!" yanking on her short hair, she growled. "Idiot!" smacking her hand on the crystal she snarled. "Jin! Follow him! Make sure he goes back." Amanda had run to the bathroom to empty her stomach once the gruesome scene with the polar bear sunk in about half an hour ago. The smell finally filtered through Jin to the pair on the other end of the crystal ball. Amanda had yet to return.

_"Alright. But what about Toushiro?" _the tiger asked, the picture going from the dug out set to Kouen as he plodded down a slightly used bear track.

"He'll be fine. If you have to, get Kouen to chase you back to the set, just get him back there before midnight." she snarled, her pupils narrow slits.

_"Ok, I'll keep on his tail. Once it gets closer to midnight I'll figure out a way to get him back to the set." _there was a tremor of fear in his voice.

"Still not brave enough to get stepped on by a mountain ox again?" Alex sneered lightheartedly. Jin growled and jumped after Kouen, keeping out of sight.

_"Keep your comments to yourself house cat. I'm going." _Jin snapped, a bit of humor to his voice but he made it clear that he would ignore any further comments from her.

**-Jin-**

_Stupid house cat..._ Jin growled to himself, keeping on Kouen's trail, but staying out of sight and down wind. It was dark, the moon barely a slit in the sky, and there were clouds that threatened to cover it. If he needed to, he'd start the world's most dangerous game of tag a few hours early. But only if he needed to. He saw a red glow up ahead. _His eyes must not be as sharp at night. Well, eye._ He thought, dodging around a noisy looking bush.

"Why are you following me?" came Kouen's tired, tortured voice. His mask had finally fallen, and his real emotions were beginning to surface. "Are you really that determined to make my suffering worse Jin, that you have to tail me like I'm a piece of prey?" his voice had a hard edge to it, but it remained sad, exhausted. Jin crept out of the trees, making sure to keep a safe distance from the werewolf.

"No... I don't want you to suffer at all. I wish I could go back and change things, but this is how it was meant to be." he murmured, his head lowered. "My name is supposed to mean justice... but all I'm capable of doing is bringing more harm than good." he looked up at Kouen, his unusual purple eyes flashing. "You know why you're here. You know why they sent you here. So why are you trying so hard to avoid him?" he demanded, muscles tense and ready to run should Kouen snap, but he just blinked sadly at Jin and lowered his head; bangs shading his eyes.

"I don't want him to get hurt again. I seem to bring him nothing but pain and death. Its my fault he died in the first place, when we were both human, and its my fault that he died the second time." his voice was choked, all traces of his compassionate, kind spirit gone. _He's a broken man. He's at his wits end, barely keeping it together. So much death... so much pain in his life._ Jin crept forward, changing into his human form. He was a demon, so his clothes appeared as he transformed. Reaching out a tentative hand, he touched Kouen's arm, feeling how tense he was, all the power in the world was in his control, and yet he never seemed to use it.

"I wish there was a way I could help. As much as you won't believe me, I do." he whispered, staring at the snowy ground. Kouen stepped away abruptly, making Jin look up at him to see Kouen looking him over with his single eye. There was a strange emotion glittering in it that he couldn't place.

"No, I can tell honesty when I hear it." he replied, obviously trying to put his mask back in place. "I believe you Jin... I just can't forget what's happened in the past." he trailed off, sighing. Pushing past Jin, he muttered an 'I gotta go' and disappeared back through the trees back in the direction of the set. Jin remained on the bear track, staring down at his hand. He let out a deep sigh and transformed back to his tiger form, following him at a great enough distance that he wouldn't notice.

**-Hitsugaya-**

Hitsugaya drummed his fingers on his chest, staring blankly up at the dirt ceiling of the small set. He couldn't sleep. The moon was almost at its peak and Kouen had yet to return. Rolling on his side, he slammed his eyes shut when some dirt tumbled into the set, Kouen sliding in after. He felt the werewolf lean over him for a split second as he came in and then he sat back against the dirt wall with a huff. Because he was tall, he wouldn't be able to lay down without being in the fetal position, which Hitsugaya guessed would be not only degrading but uncomfortable.

He heard Kouen sigh quietly and started when he suddenly spoke, obviously able to tell that he was faking being asleep. "So many times I've wished that I could take myself out of the world, to just end my existence. And so many times the opportunity has come up, but I never took it. I always thought, maybe tomorrow will be better. Maybe all I need is a good night's sleep to get rid of this depression that I've fallen into." Hitsugaya could hear pain lancing the werewolf's voice. He opened his eyes and sat up, staring at him with a concerned and confused expression. Kouen had his knees drawn up to his chest, his arms folded across them and his head resting on his arms. His good eye was turned toward the boy and Hitsugaya could see it glittering with unshed tears. He drew in a shaking breath and continued. "But it never happens. I've done my best to hide just how much I've slipped, but it gets harder every day. It seems as though its too much to ask of the world for my life to go right just once." he paused and let out a sigh. "Shadow told me a couple years ago that life is like a guessing game. That you never know when your time will come but that when it does you need to be prepared. I've been prepared for fifteen years. And now it seems that my past has come back once again to bite me."

Hitsugaya studied the werewolf. He had already seen, just from watching him that he was fighting an internal war but he never thought that it was this bad. Hesitating for a couple heartbeats, he steeled his nerves and moved over to Kouen, sitting beside him with his knees folded to his chest, but not as tight as the wolf's. Remaining silent for a couple minutes, the boy thought about what he knew about Kouen. Not much. As soon as that thought passed through his mind though, an image passed through his mind of Kouen grinning in a truly happy manner, both his eyes green and twinkling. More flashed through his mind of different scenarios, a word unspoken, an action that had never been done. Jokes and curses, arguments and gentle confidence. Hitsugaya felt every touch in the images, heard every word, but he knew that none of it had ever happened but somehow felt that it had.

"Don't be too hard on yourself." he said quietly. "I've seen how kind and compassionate you can be." a lie but not a lie. "And I can tell just from looking at you that you're a good person. What ever happened in your past is in the past."

Kouen looked at him with one sad eye, frowning slightly. "No its not. Its staring me in the face right now." he growled miserably, making Hitsugaya's heart lurch, furrowing his eyebrows. "You're a bigger part of my past than you can ever imagine." as he said that, a warm breeze blew through the entrance of the set and as the pair looked out they could see snow-less pines looming over them. "The climate's changed." he took in a deep breath. "We should get some rest. I have a feeling tomorrow will be more than eventful."

**-The Next Day (Kouen's pov)-**

You ever have that annoying feeling or thought playing over and over in your head like the world's most irritating song? Of course you have, everyone has. For me its a freakin sixth sense. I had this gut feeling that something was going to go very wrong today. The pine forest climate housed one of the biggest monsters known to the supernatural world. The Mecha Bull, a ginormous minotaur that wields a massive spear that can conduct electricity. It had lackeys known as imps. Small little monkey-like creatures about the size of a mini schnauzer, but they had sharp teeth and claws and moved around in enormous numbers. They slowly killed their prey by ripping it to pieces. How do I know this? I was almost one of their meals.

Blinking my eyes open, I squeezed them shut again as bright sunlight stabbed my single pupil. It was at just the right height in the sky to where it was perfectly framed in the entrance to the set. Pushing off the wall, I stretched with my arms folded behind my back, making my spine crack in several places. Twisting my torso, I woke myself up and attempted to get rid of most of my soreness. Looking out the entrance of the set, I heaved a huge sigh and scrambled out of the small den, standing up and stretching my stiff legs. _If this is how an old man feels everyday, then I'm glad that I stopped aging at sixteen. _I thought. Crouching by the entrance, I reached in to grab the backpack, saying at the same time "Wake up." to Toushiro, shoving all that had been said the night before to the back of my mind. After a couple minutes, Toushiro crawled out of the set with his eyes still half closed and dust all over his clothes and in his white hair. I'm sure I didn't look any better so I didn't comment. He blinked into the sun for a minute, letting his eyes get used to the harsh light before standing up straight and stretching.

"What time is it?" he yawned.

"Dunno. At least nine." I replied with a shrug. Turning in the direction of the mountain, I winced when I saw the ugly black fortress that was a third of the way up. We would have to either take the long way and skirt around it, or trek right by it and risk getting killed and eaten. Personally, I voted for the long way. "Let's get a move on. I want to be off this godforsaken island before sundown." I growled, slinging the backpack on my back. I quickly found a fox trail leading toward the mountain and followed it, Toushiro on my heels.

After an hour of walking, we came on a wide river. It didn't look any deeper than five feet so I would be fine, but not Toushiro if he wasn't a strong swimmer. "Can you swim?" I asked, kicking a small rock into the water and watching it sink.

"Not really. I've never had to so I never learned." he replied with a grimace. Rolling my eyes with annoyance, I looked around for an easier way to cross but couldn't see one in the general vicinity. _Perfect..._ I growled to myself.

"Come on then I'll help you." I stepped into the water and reached out a hand to grab his wrist, pulling him gently into the water. The current was stronger than I had initially thought and I could feel it pull on my legs as we waded out into deeper water. A sudden strong current nearly swept me off my feet, but I managed to keep my balance. In the middle of the river, my shoulders were barely above the water and Toushiro was off the bottom by a few inches. He was clutching my shoulder hard as I waded across. I jumped as I felt a minnow of some sort swim up my pant leg, picking up the pace and jumping out on the other side. Stomping my foot on the pine-needle covered ground, the minnow eventually fell out and I kicked it back into the river with a growl. "Slimy little thing." I snorted, wringing the worst of the water out of my clothes before enveloping myself in fire to dry off the rest of the way. Toushiro glared at me with envy sparking in his eyes and I grinned sheepishly. "Sorry but you're on your own." he snorted and started to wring the water out of his clothes, taking the heavy jacket off and dropping it on the ground, not needing it anymore.

A soft rustling in the undergrowth and an unfamiliar scent came to me from a couple meters back. I stiffened and signaled to Toushiro to hold still. I stared into the undergrowth and paled as I saw a pale green form moving toward us. "I think we were better off with the polar bears." I laughed without humor. Cursing, I grabbed Toushiro and sprinted down the bank, hearing screeches and chattering coming from the imps that were following. _Now would be a great time for me to have my speed. Damn you Amanda. _The river bent to our left suddenly and I saw that it dropped down about twenty feet. Skidding to a halt at the edge, I turned to see the imps closing in. Shoving Toushiro over the edge, I followed him, grabbing him and hitting the water back first and plunging straight down to the rock bed. A rock plunged into the center of the scar on my back which was the thinnest part and hit a nerve on my spine, making my open my mouth to scream and inhale water, a cloud of bubbles being spat out of my mouth. The corners of my vision went dark and I fought against the coming unconsciousness as pain lanced through my back. I couldn't move, temporarily paralyzed by the rock. I focused all my energy on kicking up to the surface so we didn't drown, the water here was deeper that it had been on top.

Our head burst through the surface, both of us gagging on the swiftly churning water. Shaking off the paralysis I held onto Toushiro's arm and kicked off to the side, unable to get any foothold. I felt land rise up under my feet and pulled Toushiro to the side, sliding him onto the bank. I drifted for a couple meters before I could turn and swim to the bank myself. I crawled out of the water coughing violently and collapsed, my entire body convulsing from the hit to the spine. My arms and legs felt like jelly and my back was throbbing. I felt like my spine was being chewed on by a hell-hound. Shaking uncontrollably, I looked around to see if Toushiro was alright, relieved to find him coughing up water a couple meters upstream. It felt like I was having a seizure with how badly I was shaking.

It took a moment to realize that I was having a seizure from the impact on the nerves in my spinal cord. It was making my nerves fire in rapid succession to try and reboot. I felt my eyes roll as fatigue blackened my vision and had to focus on keeping my mouth closed to keep from biting my tongue off. Unnatural heat flowed through my veins as my system attempted to stop my nerves from having a spaz attack and failed. In the back of my mind, I could feel a hand on my shoulder and two voices speaking, scared and raising in pitch as my body continued to shake.

**-Jin-**

Jin felt all the blood drain from his face as Kouen shoved Toushiro over the side of the waterfall, following him closely. His moment of relief that had flooded him when he saw him grab Toushiro vanished when Kouen hit the water back first. He had been told about the deep scar on his back, and how if it was hit in the very center it would either make him black out, paralyze him, or make him have a seizure. After about ten scary seconds, which gave Jin just enough time to scramble down the cliff-side, Kouen and Toushiro's heads appeared above the surface. Both were choking on water, and Jin saw Kouen's face twist with pain as he made a conscious effort to keep their heads above the water and get to the shore. Jin followed them down the river until Kouen slid Toushiro onto the bank, floating a couple more meters before crawling half way out of the water and collapsing, coughing up water.

Sprinting up to Toushiro, he kept his eyes glued on Kouen in case he started having a seizure. He helped Toushiro up; being in his human form; and stared in horror as Kouen's body started to shake uncontrollably. His breath was coming in ragged gasps and his eyes were closed tightly. He ran over with Toushiro, placing a hand on Kouen's shoulder to hopefully try and sedated the seizure.

"What's happening?" Toushiro asked, fear etched across his face.

"When you went into the water a rock must have hit his back." scrambling around Kouen's body, he pulled up his jacket and shirt to inspect the scar. Around it were uncountable others, but the grizzly 'x' that crisscrossed Kouen's back was the most obvious. In the very center it was black and blue with a small trickle of blood coming from it. "Damn this is bad."

"Is there anything we can do?" Jin shook his head.

"No. But if it doesn't stop soon, he'll have a hefty amount of brain damage." placing his hand gently over the scar, Jin grimaced at just how deep it was, then he noticed something else. He could feel every one of Kouen's ribs. Pulling up the werewolf's shirt some more, he let out a soft gasp at how emaciated Kouen was. "Has he been starving himself?" he asked himself. He noticed after a moment that Kouen had stopped shaking and that his eyes were open a little bit. He was pale, obviously feeling the effects of the seizure. "Talk to him, get him to come around." Jin said to Toushiro, who nodded, moving closer to his head.

"Are you alright?" he asked quietly, getting Kouen's attention. It took the werewolf a moment to gather the strength to respond, and when he did, his voice was slurred and weak.

"No. I can't move." Kouen pulled in a painful breath and tried to open his eyes more. "What happened?"

"You hit your back and had a seizure." Toushiro replied, not really sure what to say. Looking at Jin disparately, not sure what to say.

Jin swallowed his rage and moved beside Toushiro. "Do you remember how you hit your back?" he asked, wanting to check Kouen's memory. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember.

"Running from imps. We had to jump off a cliff into the river." he replied, his eyes still glazed some.

Jin nodded. "Try to move your fingers."

Kouen concentrated, but Jin realized that the more he tried, the paler he became. He carefully removed the backpack from Kouen's back, making him let out a small cry of pain as his back moved, and pulled out a canteen. Inching back, he dipped it into the river. "Roll him on his back if you can." he said to Toushiro as the canteen filled. Toushiro took one of Kouen's arms and pulled him onto his back, knocking he breath out of the weakened wolf as his spine hit the ground.

"Ow..." was all he managed to get out. Jin walked back over with the canteen, pouring some water into Kouen's slightly agape mouth. It took a moment, but he swallowed it without choking. A small bit of color came back to Kouen's face, but not enough to signify that he was feeling any better. _Now would be a great time for some of that healing magic of yours Amanda. _Jin growled to the cat demons on the other end of his link.

_"She's not back yet, but here's some of mine." _Alex replied, and Jin felt a cooling sensation prick in his finger tips as Alex's miniscule amount of healing magic flowed into him _"Put your hand on his forehead hand it will fix his back and any brain damage he has."_

Jin nodded inwardly and placed his hand on Kouen's forehead, almost drawing it back when he felt the amount of heat coming off the werewolf's body. After a minute, the glaze vanished from his eye and the color came back to his face. Then he paled again and lurched upward, scrambling to the river and throwing up in it. Soon he was dry heaving, clutching his throat and coughing violently. "I'm surprised that you have anything to puke up." Jin said with a slight snarl. Kouen swallowed another heave and sat down heavily, panting.

"What goes on in _my _life is none of _your business._" he growled back between pants. "And nothing you say or do will change that." he struggled to his feet, swaying a bit before shaking his head to steady himself. He was about to say more when a triumphant screech split the air and a troop of about thirty imps exploded from the undergrowth. Ten to each person there, they jumped on their targets and started to rip them up before something stopped them and they dragged the unconscious forms to the black fortress that was only a few miles away.

_** Yosh! This turned out awesome. Hope you liked it!**_


	7. Chapter 7

Dark Wings

_**Again the parts with mainly Kouen are told from his pov. Every thing else is 3rd person. And this one's gonna be very short so don't scream at me. There's a point behind it.**_

Chapter 7- Ignition

_'Welcome to the quiet before the storm hits...'_

I felt weightless. It was that feeling you get when you're on the brink of death. I would know. But it didn't feel quite like death looming over me, more like a coma-like state. All I knew was that my neck hurt and something was cutting off the circulation in my arms. Struggling to open my eyes, I found that I was standing and looking down at my shoes, which were caked in mud. Lifting my head, hearing several unhealthy pops, I looked around blearily. I was tied to some form of pole in the center of an enormous courtyard. Around me were countless imps, chattering in their annoying high pitched voices, milling about with carts barrels and ropes. I had to crane my neck to look to my left, spying Toushiro and Jin tied up and passed out about a meter from me.

I jumped when a huge bell sounded and some iron doors opened at the far end of the courtyard. All activity stopped, but the noise woke Toushiro and Jin up. A metallic screeching assaulted my ears and the Mecha Bull, who's about twenty feet tall and the ugliest thing you will ever say clomped out slowly. "What's happening?" Toushiro asked, fear eminent in his voice. I didn't reply, but continued to glare at the Mecha Bull as he walked forward, brandishing his spear that's as long as he is tall if not more.

"Puny humans dare to come near my fortress?" it bellowed. "Imps tear humans to pieces." deciding to bring out my natural wit and hopefully outsmart the brute without making him smash me I grinned and said:

"Ah but how do you know we're human? We could be mutated imps for all you know?" the bull's head snapped down to me and he crouched, a high screech coming from the junction between his hips and stomach.

"Mecha Bull remember you. You puny human who blew up fortress. Well who's got who now hm?" he snorted in my face, making my eyes water at his oily breath.

Struggling to keep my facade I grinned at him. "But I'm not human. Not human at all." he wasn't listening though, he had straightened back up and was examining all three of us. Jin was giving me a 'shut up' look and Toushiro was gaping at the auto-matron. While the bull had his eyes glued on Jin, I took the opportunity to change into my wolf form and sneak away. All the imps were busy staring at their master, so I was able to sneak behind the brute and climb up the fortress walls to get a good angle on him. Though my plan would probably knock my head so hard that I would be a vegetable until the end of the world.

Opening my mouth, I sucked in as deep a breath as I could manage and blew as much fire as I could at the bull. He bellowed, stumbling back from the inferno, his arms flailing. Part of his shoulder was melted, the metal he was made of being mostly heat resistant, but at least I had cause some damage. He glared at me, bringing a hand up to swat me like a fly, but I jumped to a tower that was at the corner of the fortress wall as his hand demolished his home. He bellowed again, his beady eyes burning red and swatted at me again. I dodged, but a flying piece of debris caught me in the flank, making me crash to the ground. The Mecha Bull took the opportunity to pick up a boulder and throw it. I had barely staggered to my paws when the rock slammed into my side. I could hear my ribs and spine and legs all break, and blood spurted from my mouth. A wound on my neck from the imps reopened along with several others. Soon I was laying in a pool of my own blood, mouth agape in a silent scream, and my good eye facing skyward; wide open and glazing.

**-Hitsugaya-**

The sickening cracks of Kouen's bones resounded throughout the courtyard as the boulder he had been nailed with squashed him against the wall. Hitsugaya's mouth was open in a silent scream of fear as Kouen slid to the ground as the boulder rolled away. Kouen's mouth was also wide open, blood pooling under his body and free flowing from his mouth. Even from such a distance, Hitsugaya could see his right eye open to its fullest, his pupil a small slit and the eye glazing as pain overtook the werewolf's senses and he fell into unconsciousness. The Mecha Bull bellowed in triumph, but Hitsugaya barely paid him any mind. His head was throbbing horrifically. Gritting his teeth to try, the boy tried to block out the pain but failed miserably. The pain increased and suddenly images and words surged through his mind. But instead of vanishing as they had come, they stayed, burned into his mind. He realized that he was remembering past lives. Two to be exact. And in both, Kouen was there.

He remembered who he was, a steely look coming over his features as his eyes remained locked on Kouen's form. "What should we do Captain?" Jin asked with a slight sneer. Hitsugaya turned his gaze to Jin to see him grinning.

"We can't do anything. You don't look like much of a fighter and I'm just human. All we can do is hope for a miracle."

**-Kouen (dream world)-**

I couldn't feel anything. I knew that I was probably in a coma though. Forcing my eyes open, I realized with a jolt that I could see out of both eyes for the first time in years. I made the mistake of looking down though. I let out an indignant squeak as I noticed that I was a dag nasty amount of feet above the ground. Shakily pushing myself up on my hands and knees, I heard a soft, girlish laugh and looked up. A woman of about twenty five or so with long black hair and deep brown eyes was standing a few feet away. She was wearing a dark kimono with red flowers printed on the fabric and had no shoes. Her smile was kind and it made me think that I knew her from somewhere.

"Oh my boy. I hoped that this day would never come." she spoke in a honey smooth voice. She stepped toward me and knelt, taking my face in her hands and smiling. "You don't remember who I am do you?" she asked, locking her eyes with mine. I couldn't speak, so I settled for tilting my head slightly to the side. "You're so much like your father. Intelligent, compassionate, kind. And you look like him too. You've grown up to be such a handsome young man." she folded her hands in her lap and gazed at me sadly. "That's what made me fall for him in the first place. He was such a gentleman, so much like how you are."

Realization hit me like a train. I was looking at my mother, thirty-seven years dead, and almost completely banished from my memory. She had been killed when I was four, so I had almost no memories of her. Before I could speak, a man appeared. He was about six inches taller then me, about six feet five inches, with auburn hair like mine and dark green eyes. He looked about twenty-two or so and had a hard gleam in his eyes. I realized that I was looking at a basic clone of myself, my father. He had died before I was born so I had no memories of him whatsoever. I narrowed my eyes at him and found a hint of kindness behind the steely look he was giving me.

"My boy you've made me proud." he boomed all of a sudden with a wide grin, crouching and slapping my on the back hard. I coughed once from the force of it and stared at him, still lost for words. When I finally found my voice, it sounded distant but that was probably just my own ears betraying me.

"Where am I?" I asked, sitting and crossing my legs. My father looked at my mother with a slight frown.

"Emer you haven't told him yet?" he demanded quietly. My mother, Emer-which was Irish for 'ready' or 'swift'- shook her head.

"No Cane. I was about to." she looked at me and a small smile ghosted her face. "Your father passed onto you a bloodline called Dark Wings that you haven't discovered yet. You were supposed to awaken it on your eighteenth birthday, but seeing as you will never reach eighteen, we've decided to unlock it for you now."

Deciding to play along even though I had no idea what they were talking about whatsoever, I said; "Okay, but what is this bloodline exactly?"

"It grants you the power of flight through enormous black raven wings." Cane said with a hint of pride. "And while you are using it, you can freely morph between your wolf and human forms without ruining your clothes. You also gain temporary control over Black Fire. But it will render your hands useless until you can get to a very strong healer."

"That's how he met me." my mother continued. "He had been forced to use his bloodline against some supernaturals that were out to get him because of it. His hands were burned down to almost nothing but bone." I winced at this and looked down at my own hands. "When you wake, you will be healed. All you have to do to bring forth the Dark Wings is think about it." she and my father both placed a hand on a shoulder each and the world dropped out from under me.

**-Waking world-**

All sounds were muffled when my eye- it took a moment for me to realize my left eye was blind again- came back into focus. I didn't move for a couple minutes, trying to wake my system up fully. I didn't feel any pain from my previously broken bones, but my jaw was hurting from being open at such an angle for lord knows how long. My ears finally decided to cooperate for me and I focused not on the shrieking of the imps, or the cold bellowing of the Mecha Bull, but on any noise uttered by Toushiro and Jin. I had this feeling in my gut that something had happened while I was out. I turned my gaze, still holding absolutely still, to the Mecha Bull and my the flames of my anger were fueled when it reached for Toushiro. _No! Not again!_

The world when still...


	8. Chapter 8

Dark Wings

_**This one's completely from 3rd person pov. I suggest that you listen to 'Face On' from the Wolf's Rain soundtrack during the fight scene and 'Night of Passion' by The Poodles during the rest. It adds to the mood.**_

Chapter 8- Healing a Broken Soul

A cold feeling snaked its way down Hitsugaya's spine as the Mecha Bull reached for him. Just before it could clasp its metallic hand around him, all movement stopped, all sound vanished. Then after a half a heartbeat there was a deep, guttural growl. All beings in the courtyard looked in the direction of Kouen's seemingly lifeless form to see it enveloped in a dark orb of energy. A roar split the air and a form shot out of the orb and into the sky. When it eclipsed the setting sun, it snapped opened enormous raven-black feathery wings, letting out a howl. A light-less fire erupted from Kouen's mouth and his eyes glowed green and icy blue while his canines grew to the length of a saber-tooth tiger's. Roaring again, he dove at the Mecha Bull, wings spread out in a deep glide.

He tucked them tightly to his body at the last instant and pile-drove into its shoulder with amazing force, knocking it off balance. Hitsugaya heard Jin let out a laugh. "Go Kouen! Show that brute who's boss." Kouen let out a roar and tipped a wing, banking off the fortress wall sharply, using his paws to push off of the wall-removing a large chunk of it. He carried the chunk in his paws and dropped it on the imps who were trying to help their master. He landed on the platform behind Jin and Hitsugaya, slicing their bonds.

"Get out of here." he growled in a doubled voice. One sounded like his own, the other sounded much deeper. He locked his eyes with Hitsugaya, then with Jin. "Jin I'm trusting you to keep him safe." he continued. A silent understanding seemed to pass between werewolf and tiger. With a snort, Kouen spread his wings and took off again, his paws churning like he was running. He slammed paws first into the fortress wall, creating a way for Jin and Hitsugaya to get out, picking up another large piece of rubble and dropping it on the imps who were trying to get to the two.

The Mecha Bull regained its feet, bellowing furiously. It pointed its spear at Kouen, who was hovering a few meters away from him, glaring his challenge. An arc of lighting shot from the spear and Kouen countered it with Black Fire, surging through the smoke and ramming into the robot's chest to knock it off balance again. The bull tried to swat him away but he tucked his wings and shot toward the ground. Snarling, he realized that as long as he was in his wolf form, he had limited control over Black Fire so he changed into his human form. His pants were still in tact but his shirt was not only burned but shredded. His wings were still on his back, spread threateningly.

Bringing his hands up, Kouen gathered Black Fire in his palm, ignoring the smell of burning flesh and the pain, and shot the fire at the bull, melting its chest all the way through its back. It bellowed in agony as Kouen continued his onslaught, using only one hand in case he had to use his other for something else. He could feel blood-lust cloud his senses and grinned sadistically as the bull was reduced to a heap of burning metal. He turned to the imps and his grin widened as they all chattered fearfully. He set about three-fourths of them on fire, leaving the rest to starve to death among their burning comrades, not able to pass through the Black Fire that would burn for two years at the very least. Nothing could put it out except someone who had control over it and Kouen had no desire to do so.

Staring down at his right hand, he paled at the sight of burned flesh and muscle. He could see bone through some of it and pain was lancing through his arm. Ignoring it as best he could, he changed back into his wolf form and shot into the air to search for Jin and Hitsugaya. At the speeds he knew Jin could travel, they were probably half way to the coast by now. Churning his paws like he was running, he looked through the forest for any sign of them. It was difficult to see anything through the trees, especially now that the sun was almost set.

He spotted them passing through a large clearing and went into a sharp dive to catch up to them. They looked up as he neared, able to hear the wind through the feathers of his wings, slowing their pace but not stopping. "Head for the coast." he yelled over the wind. Jin stopped, grabbing Hitsugaya's arm.

"Take him. I can't leave the island." he called as Kouen passed over them. He tipped a wing to circle back around and landed with a huff, favoring his burned paw. Jin muttered something to Hitsugaya and walked up to Kouen, who was trying to even out his breathing. "So I guess this is the last time I'll see you huh?" he said with a forced grin. Kouen blinked and tilted his head slightly. "Can I at least consider you a friend again?" the tiger looked at Kouen with hope dancing in his strange purple eyes. Kouen thought about this. _What's in the past is in the past I suppose..._

" Sure. And you never know. I just might pay you a visit sometime." he replied in his doubled voice. Jin's face lit up like a Christmas tree and he place a hand on Kouen's head, ruffling the fur between his ears. Motioning Hitsugaya over, he stood up straight and grinned ruefully. Jin backed up a couple paces as Hitsugaya approached. Kouen's gaze locked with the boy's and realization came over his features. But there was no time to celebrate the fact that he remembered his past lives. They had to get off the island. Kouen-in his wolf form-is about the size of a horse, so Hitsugaya got on his back, careful of his wings. The wolf turned his gaze to Jin and flicked an ear. "Bye Jin." he said shortly, crouching and taking off in a flurry of black feathers and fur. Kouen circled the clearing twice to gain air and as he turned in the direction of home, he saw Jin give them a mock salute. He let out a howl and took off, using fire to propel himself forward. He didn't even notice Hitsugaya's extra weight, his wings being large and strong enough for him to be able to carry an elephant and not notice. Soon there was nothing but a huge expanse of water under them, the Atlantic Ocean. Jin's island was part of the Bermuda Triangle so it was no surprise when they passed over Florida. They traveled in comfortable silence until about midnight when they were passing over the Gulf of Mexico. Kouen saw a stretch of land to the north and dipped a wing toward it. "We need to make a pit stop at Shadow's place in Texas for the night. I'm beat." he called over the wind.

"Shadow has a house in Texas?" Hitsugaya asked.

"And in Germany, Poland, England, Colorado, Alaska, and somewhere in Canada. He's royalty so money is not an option for him. Most of them are safe houses for me actually." he grinned. "You know how bad my record is." they passed over the barrier island, Padre Island, and flew over the Neches River, Kouen idly counting barges they passed over. By the time they reached Shadow's house he had reached thirty four. Landing as softly as he could in the fox's front yard he waited for Hitsugaya to get off before changing back into his human form, noticing that instead of looking like a Holocaust victim like he had before, he had filled out again. _Thanks mom..._ he though to himself with an inward shudder. Deactivating the Dark Wings bloodline, he lead the way up onto the porch, picking up a brick by the door and grabbing the spare key. He tried to push the door open only to find that it was jammed. "Damn ancient house." he grunted, ramming his shoulder into the door, making it pop open and almost making him fall.

He waited for Hitsugaya to walk inside, following and closing the door. As soon as it clicked closed he gave into the pain coming from his hand and sank to the floor with a pained moan. Hugging his hand to his stomach, he gritted his teeth to keep from howling in agony and looked up as Hitsugaya crouched next to him. "Call the third number from the bottom on the card in the kitchen. Its Shadow's granddaughter. She's a healer and can hopefully take care of my hand." he managed to grunt out. The boy was gone before he finished the sentence.

After ten painful minutes, Rai, a perky, silver haired red eyed twelve year old appeared in the living room where Kouen was sitting impatiently and painfully on the couch. She immediately set to work on his hand, grimacing at the amount of damage that had been caused. She left without a word, just a friendly nod and a grin, leaving Kouen and Hitsugaya alone in the house.

Sighing with relief, Kouen looked around only to shrink away from the glare that Hitsugaya was directing his way. "So you starved yourself did you?" he more or less growled. "Dare I ask what else you did to yourself in the past fifteen years?" he didn't wait for an answer though. He sat down on the couch next to the werewolf, facing him cross-legged. Kouen didn't meet his prying stare, but instead busied himself with studying the pattern on a chest that served as a central table. Had he been in his wolf form his ears would have been folded against his head and his tail between his legs, but he wasn't and was thankful for that small fact. So he just settled for sheepishly staring at the pattern of the chest in the center of the living room. The intensity of the boy's glare lessened after a couple minutes of uncomfortable silence and he sighed. "Well at least I know you care." he settled. He moved closer and idly traced the useless 'memory seal' tattoo that was still present on Kouen's right arm while studying the crimson circle with a black howling wolf tattoo in the center of the wolf's muscular chest. It was the symbol of the werewolf nation but you only got it if you were in the werewolf army. Kouen had obviously been drafted but didn't care to follow his sadistic step-father's commands, seeing as Akamizu had become the ruler of the werewolf nation.

He was removed from his thoughts when he felt Kouen shift and drew back slightly when he noticed that the wolf's face was only inches from his own. "Care doesn't even begin to describe how I feel." he murmured, his single green eye soft. A couple locks of his silver streaked auburn hair hung over his left eye, mostly hiding it from view when he leaned forward. Kouen reached up with one warm hand and stroked the side of Hitsugaya's face with his thumb. Suddenly though his head snapped up and he shoved Hitsugaya down, leaning over him and glaring at the doorway to the kitchen. Hitsugaya could hear a growl beginning to rumble in his throat and watched as Kouen's finger nails lengthened and sharpened into claws and his fangs lengthened some as well.

A soft whisper of a breeze swept through the room stirring the air ever so slightly. Hitsugaya looked around, unable to see anything though Kouen obviously could, seeing as he growled even lower. _That's right, creatures other than humans can sense spirits better then humans can. But I've always been able to sense and see ghosts. _The boy thought. The presence seemed to wreathe around them before turning into a faint mist. Hitsugaya noticed that the mist seemed to be concentrated around Kouen's blind eye and watched in amazement- though Kouen was still looking around the room and growling- as his eye began to slowly take on a green tint and a shadow appeared in the center where his pupil would be. Once it looked like he only had a cataract over the eye the mist and presence vanished altogether.

As soon as the presence disappeared, Kouen stopped growling and his features turned back to normal. A look of wonder crossed his face and he closed his right eye and looked around. A massive grin threatened to split his face in two as Kouen realized that he could partially see out of his left eye and he let out a short bark of confused laughter. His gaze traveled down to Hitsugaya and his grin turned into a more true smile. He bent down, pressing his forehead against the boy's seeming to read his mind just by looking into his eyes. He slid a hand under the boy's back lifting him up slightly and softly pressing their lips together.

Pure ecstasy coursed through Hitsugaya as the long lost feeling of Kouen's pure, unrequited love flowed into him. He leaned into the kiss, bringing his arms up to snake them around Kouen's neck to deepen it. He felt Kouen run his tongue over his lower lip, happily opening his mouth to allow entrance. His eyes slid shut as Kouen's tongue ran over his teeth, the roof of his mouth, and his tongue. He let out a slight moan as Kouen splayed his fingers against his back, softly caressing Hitsugaya's skin beneath his shirt. He felt Kouen's fingers curl around his shirt, pulling it up and sliding his hand under it, warmth spreading from his fingertips and onto Hitsugaya's flesh. He fisted his hands in Kouen's thick auburn hair and pulled slightly, want flowing through his veins and his pants becoming tight.

Kouen broke the kiss and pressed his cheek against Hitsugaya's breathing softly against the boy's ear, making him let out a small mewl. He could feel the grin Kouen was wearing at his reaction and scowled slightly. His annoyance was forgotten though when the werewolf deliberately pressed a knee onto his crotch, making him moan lowly. Kouen's silky chuckle made a shiver pass through Hitsugaya's body as the wolf's hand snaked around his body, pressing down on the boy's chest. He could feel heat coming from the other's body and thought that it was strange, even for him, to be putting out that much body heat, unless he was doing it on purpose. All thoughts were forgotten when Kouen locked his mouth down on the junction between Hitsugaya's neck and shoulder, licking and sucking at the pale flesh there, surely leaving a mark. The boy reached up with one hand and ran it over Kouen's well muscled chest, feeling every contour on his abs and his six pack. He didn't dare move to his back, not wanting to cause any harm with the deep scars there. Instead, he rested his hand over Kouen's heart, feeling the steady, strong thrumming beneath his fingertips.

Kouen suddenly drew back, looking him in the eyes. A soft smile crossed his features and he took one of Hitsugaya's hands, moving it to his back and allowing his fingertips to run over the scars there. Some were raised, but most cut into his flesh. He released the boy's hand and pressed his lips against Hitsugaya's, softly this time, as if saying that it was alright, that nothing would happen if he was careful. Hitsugaya ran his fingers lightly over the edges of the largest scar there, frowning sadly, remembering how Kouen got it. Kouen pulled back and let him, but this also let him get a good look at the healed over puncture mark just to the right of the wolf's heart, making him feel guilty. As though reading his thoughts, Kouen chuckled quietly and said in almost a purr; "What's in the past is in the past. You don't have to feel guilty for anything."

"How- How did you-?"

"Your eyes. They tell me everything." he ran his thumb under one of Hitsugaya's turquoise eyes, propped up on one elbow that was planted next to the boy firmly. "I work at a school. I'm good at reading people cause I have to sniff out liars and troublemakers so that they can be dealt with early." he dismissed it like it was nothing, which to him it was. "Now then..." he trailed off, slithering his hand under Hitsugaya's shirt again and pulling it over his head with a smirk.

"Cocky bastard." Hitsugaya growled playfully.

"I try."

"You succeed." Kouen's smirk grew and he placed a warm hand on the boy's chest, pressing down lightly, bending down and biting down on the other side of Hitsugaya's neck, drawing a small bit of blood and lapping it up just as quickly, ignoring his instinct to bite harder, therefore turning the boy into a werewolf, which he wouldn't wish on anyone. Pressing he knee lightly against Hitsugaya's crotch again, he grinned at the moan he erected from the boy. He felt a small tug on his torn up jeans and chuckled, deciding to be mean and remove Hitsugaya's pants first, leaving his on despite the amount of pressure he was feeling as his erection hardened. He pulled the boy's boxers off next, grinning evilly as he earned a scowl from him. Giving him a playful kiss on the nose, he took the boy's erection in his hand, making him yelp. Dropping the temperature of his hand considerably, he grinned as Hitsugaya seemed to melt as his now ice cold hand seemed to cool the burning from his lower section, but then rose his temperature to its previous temperature, making Hitsugaya almost growl at him. "You're mean." he managed to grit out, making Kouen's grin widen.

Kouen started moving his hand up and down, slowly at first, but soon he was pumping in rhythm with Hitsugaya's beating heart, which was getting more and more frantic as time passed. The boy tried to move with him, but Kouen held his hips down. From the look on his face, Kouen could tell that he was getting close, bending down and claiming the boy's mouth again, letting him scream into his mouth as he came, riding out his orgasm with low moans and shallow panting.

Kouen's own erection was becoming painful even though his pants were some what loose. Sliding a hand under Hitsugaya, he flipped him over- getting a startled yelp from him- and kicked off his pants and boxers. Leaning over him, he tapped Hitsugaya's chin with three of his fingers, sticking them in his mouth when he opened, letting out a half moan half growl as the boy's tongue played with his fingers. When he was satisfied, he removed his fingers and slid one into Hitsugaya's entrance, getting a low groan of pleasure from him. After a couple heart beats he placed another one in, scissoring and listening to the slightly pained moans that came from deep in Hitsugaya's throat. Taking his other hand, he ran his fingers along the boy's smooth back and sides so lightly that it may have been a breeze from the air conditioner, but the heat that Kouen let loose from his fingers made that thought fly out the window real fast. It wasn't a painful heat, more like a hot desert breeze. And Hitsugaya loved it even though he was more of a cold air person. He winced as Kouen added a third finger, stretching him out almost painfully. The pain turned to pleasure after a couple seconds as Kouen scissored and moved his fingers in and out.

Kouen grinned as he found Hitsugaya's sweet spot, pressing down on it, making a loud moan come from the boy's throat. Pressing on it again, he pulled his fingers out and placed his erection at Hitsugaya's entrance, bending over to whisper sweet nothings in his ear as he slid it in. He felt a bit guilty when the boy winced, but kept going until he was completely buried inside the boy. Hitsugaya turned his head to meet Kouen's gaze, nodding slightly with tears pricking at the edges of his eyes. Kouen raised a hand and wiped them away, slowly moving in and out moving faster over time. Taking Hitsugaya's already re-hardened member in his hand again, he pumped to the time of his thrusts. Both were moaning pleasurably ecstasy coursing through their bodies. They came together with a final cry of pleasure.

Kouen almost collapsed on top of Hitsugaya, but caught himself and rolled to the side, almost falling off the couch. Hitsugaya let out a tired laugh as the wolf righted himself and rolled on his side to give him more room. Kouen wrapped his arms around the boy, pulling him close, resting his chin on top of his head with a content sigh. Hitsugaya placed a hand on Kouen's chest, feeling his heartbeat and listening to his steady breathing until sleep took him as well.

**-The Next Morning-**

Kouen was the only person he knew that had an internal alarm clock that rang every day at four in the morning. He hated it and was able to ignore it sometimes, but this was not one of those times. It was seven in the morning now, he had peeled himself away from a still-knocked-out Hitsugaya two hours ago and was currently up on a latter fixing the dilapidated garage that was on the same property as the house just because he had nothing better to do and it was bugging him.

Taking another piece of wood, he fitted it expertly into place and took a nail out of his mouth, hammering into place. "That makes one wall." he muttered, sliding down the ladder and surveying his handy-work. He was wearing a loose white undershirt with an orange, brown and black plaid button up shirt unbuttoned over it as well as some faded jeans and sneakers. Picking up the ladder, he moved it to the back wall, going back to grab his hammer, wood, and crowbar. Jamming the crowbar under a broken piece of wood, he yanked the rotted wood away with a slight grunt.

"What are you doing?" came a tired voice from his left. Though he could partially see out of that eye now, it was still a bit of a blind spot so it was no surprise when he jumped hard enough for the crowbar to drop from his grip and land on his foot.

"Damn it." he yelped, holding his foot and making the mistake of leaning against the wall, falling through the rotted wood with a crash. Sitting up, he glared at Hitsugaya, who looked highly amused at his dusty form. "What does it look like I'm doing." he growled, pulling himself from the wreckage. "This stupid thing has been bugging me for a while now so I figured what the hell. May as well fix it." he looked down at the boy and raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing up? Its only seven or so." he asked, picking up the crowbar and setting back to work with pulling the wood away, tossing it to the side after he moved the destroyed wood from the inside.

"Well, I noticed the lack of warmth and decided to go ahead and wake up." he stared pointedly at the wolf, who glanced at him but said nothing. "How long have you been up?"

"Four. That's the time I get up every morning, minus the few times I'm able to ignore my infernal internal alarm and sleep in some." he shrugged some, yanking another piece of wood away from the wall, jumping back as a quite large spider crawled out, paling some. He quickly took the crowbar to it, turning it to a splat on the wall, stifling a shudder.

"You know, I never would have pegged you as someone who's afraid of spiders."

"Only the ones bigger than a silver dollar." Kouen growled turning the crowbar on its side and scraping down the side of the hole he had made to even it out. Inching past Hitsugaya- there was only about four feet of clearance between the garage and the fence that lead to the neighbor's backyard- he grabbed a piece of new wood, stuck some nails in his mouth and stepped a couple steps up the ladder, nailing it to the top first. "I was able to fix the inside in about an hour, so this wall will take an hour cause the other one took that long too." he said around the nails, more talking to himself than Hitsugaya.

"You'd think Shadow would get a nicer place for his friend if he's so rich." Kouen looked down at the boy with a raised eyebrow.

"Actually." he said, taking the nails out of his mouth and leaning against the ladder, turned slightly toward Hitsugaya. "This _is _one of the nicer ones. The one in Alaska is a little more than a straw lean-to." he sniffed dismissively, sticking a nail in the board and giving a good whack, burying it completely in the wood. Stepping back down to the ground, he did the same with the bottom and moved the ladder over some. "Let me finish this section and I'll go down to Bruce's to get some food." he said, hearing Hitsugaya's stomach growl. He grinned as he saw the boy's face redden at his comment, placing the next bit of wood in place and hammering some nails in. As Hitsugaya walked away, he noticed that he was in the same clothes as the night before and figured that he should get him some more clothes too. He planned on staying here for a couple days. As he hammered he let his thoughts wander aimlessly, barely noticing the passage of time, his body moving almost mechanically as he finished off the hole he had made in the back of the garage. Sliding down the ladder again, he looked up at the clear sky and took in a deep breath, picking out even the smallest scents. "Oh yeah. Today's gonna be a good day." he said to himself with a half grin, whistling and twirling the hammer as he walked back around the garage, placing it beside the door and stepping inside. Stepping into the living room, he saw Hitsugaya in a lounge chair sleeping, making him smile softly.

He picked the boy up carefully, meandering his way into the back bedroom and laying him down on the bed there, taking a blanket from the closet and laying it over him, leaving the room and going to the other bedroom to change into more presentable clothes. _A good day indeed..._

_** This killed me... but I love it! Kouen's a big softie and we all know it, no matter how depressed he was previously. Enjoy and review. And don't worry, this isn't the last chapter. There's gonna be one or two more and then a shorter third part that's gonna be called 'The Fall.' You'll see what I mean when I get around to that one. **_


	9. Chapter 9

Dark Wings

_**Yesh, so this is the last chapter of Dark Wings. I like this one soo much better than Blood and Desire I can't even begin to describe it. Anyway, a general summary for The Fall will be given at the end of the chapter so don't leave as soon as you read the last word. (glares) Oh and listen to 'Cat and Mouse' by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus to get a feel of Kouen and Jin's relationship, both past and present. It kind of delves into their thoughts and feelings.**_

Chapter 9- Public Punching Bag

Kouen scratched absentmindedly at the eye patch covering his left eye as he plodded slowly down the produce isle of the local grocery store known as Bruce's. The basket that was hanging in his right hand was full to the top but there was one more thing he had to pick up. Though normally not one for cooking, preferring take out to putting effort into a meal, he decided to do something special today seeing as he was officially back together with Hitsugaya. The thought made him smile softly.

He was broken roughly out of his thoughts when an elderly man and his wife yelled "Hey kid look out!" but reacted too slowly to avoid the runaway shopping cart that was rolling his way at a dangerous speed. On the back was an eight year old kid who was laughing his head off, with his mother yelling and running after him. She didn't reach the cart in time to stop it from ramming into Kouen. He went sprawling back onto his back, clutching his leg as a big purple bruise started to form after a second, and he could swear he heard a bone crack. His basket went flying, all its contents flying out and going all over the isle but the impact had stopped the cart hard enough for the kid to fly off the back and land in Kouen's lap, his knee ramming into Kouen's crotch, making him let out a loud yell, careful to keep it from turning into a howl. He shoved the kid off him and sat up, curling into a ball with a huge grimace on his face.

_Of course he hits me. Not the old people or the pregnant lady noo... that'd be too simple._ He thought, wincing with tears of pain pricking at his eyes. _Though I suppose it's a good thing he hit me and not them_. He growled inwardly, hearing the pregnant lady gasp behind him and the elderly couple started to pick up Kouen's things, making him feel guilty, but he couldn't stand right now or make a coherent sound so he simply said in a croaky voice when they handed the basket to him: "You didn't have to do that." they simply smiled and carried on.

When they were gone he glared icily at the kid, directing it at his mother when she let out a stifled giggle. "So you think its funny when your kid hurts people? What the hell kind of mother are you?" he growled, forcing the snarl out of his voice as his temper boiled. She looked far too young to have had the kid at a reasonable age so he figured that she had had him at at least sixteen. Rolling his eyes in disgust, he made an effort to stand, pain shooting up his leg and from his lower regions. "I'm going to laugh when he gets put in jail for something like this." he said in a more reasonable voice, though still angry, leaning heavily on the shelf behind him.

"Who are you to talk?" she demanded, all traces of amusement gone.

"Believe me when I say that the life of a killer isn't fun. Constantly running from the government, having to kill again to keep from getting caught. Having your friends and loved ones caught in the crossfire. Not fun." he whispered the last part, his voice growing colder with each word. "Contain your child before someone gets seriously hurt." he growled, limping bravely past her. _I'd better get out of here before I make something explode._ As soon as the though crossed his mind, there was an explosion from a couple isles over and Kouen froze as there was a startled scream and a red liquid splattered on the ceiling. He had to pause for a second, taking in the scent of the liquid before practically melting with relief. "Ketchup." he sighed. There was another bang and a nearby length of sausage exploded, followed closely by a glass filled bang from the other side of the store as a bottle of Merlot blew up. The next and final one was right behind Kouen, leaving him splattered with canned pasta. "Great." he growled, trudging to the restroom. Using the handicap he stripped his shirt off and ran it under water, scrubbing the worst of the spaghetti off of it. Once he was satisfied, he tied it by the arms to the automatic dryer and started running a wet hand through his hair to comb the pasta out of it.

Wiping the worst of it out, he dried his hair with a quick burst of fire and fingered his shirt, which was a dark gray T-shirt with a lighter gray graffiti pattern on it with red cursive letters that said 'live to bleed' running vertically along the left side. It was mostly dry so he untied it. As soon as he had it over his head with his arms still up, he heard the door open and there was a feminine gasp as a teenage girl stepped half-way into the restroom. _Damn it all... I forgot to lock the door. _ He growled to himself. "Uh... hello..." he said, pulling the shirt down hastily, wincing at the accent he got when he used English- slightly German and slightly Irish at the same time. It had been described to him as 'sexy' to add to his 'sexy' body once but he just thought it was annoying.

The girl looked no older than fifteen, with long dark brown hair and brown eyes. Her face turned bright red and she dropped to her knees. Kouen thought she was going to faint so he tensed, ready to catch her before her head hit the ground, but she just raised her hands as though reaching for him and said in a whimpering voice: "Marry me." Kouen went sheet white.

_Great... how am I going to get out of this one. _He growled to himself. Deciding to be nice, he simply said, "Sorry but you're not my type." he inched past her, trying to hide the limp he got from the shopping cart incident. He felt arms latch onto his left leg, letting out a yelp as he stumbled. The girl was holding onto him, looking at him with teary eyes.

"Please? At least let me take you to dinner." she said, hope glimmering in her eyes, making the wolf feel guilty. He heard her mutter almost too quite for him to hear, "This will be one thing that my big sister won't have." in a menacing voice.

_You've got to be kidding me. _He groaned. "Look girl, I have to get home. Sorry." he tried to detach her, but her grip became vice-like. He felt an eye twitch with annoyance and took a deep breath to try and calm his already frayed nerves. "Let go please." he grunted, trying to shake her off, but she remained valiant in her quest to get him to say yes. Growling, he ignored her and started to trudge his way to the check out lines, the girl still attached to him. To put it simply, he looked like a fool. He made it halfway there before he got fed up, his temper rearing its ugly head. "Look girl, I'm GAY!!" his voice got very loud and the grocery store went absolutely silent. Going beet red, he smacked his forehead, muttering 'idiot' to himself, finally shaking off the stunned girl. Limping bravely to the check out lines, he ignored the giggles and leers he was getting, picking the shortest line.

"So..." said the teenager at the counter in an unmistakable accent. _Oh great..._ Kouen grumbled. _Of course I get another gay guy... just perfect._ He growled under his breath. "I get off in half an hour... think I could take you somewhere?" he looked hopefully at Kouen with a honest, though perverted grin. Kouen looked at his name tag, which was at just the right distance where he could read it clearly without having to back up some, cursing the fact that he was farsighted when it came to reading. _'Paul.' _It read.

"No." he growled bluntly, his face still red as a tomato. "I don't know you. I don't even live in this damn country so regardless of how much begging you put into your proposition, the answer will stay the same. Besides, I'm taken." his voice was as cold as ice.

"So? That doesn't matter. We could have a threesome." he said it so low that only Kouen would hear it, though he wished he hadn't. As much as he wanted to throttle the guy, he restrained himself, shifting some as Paul's eyes traveled south. Hiding his waist and lower behind part of the counter, he fixed Paul with a glare, making him gulp and slide the last item through. "There you go, but if you change your mind... I'm here every other day from one till four." he wiggled his eyebrows and Kouen had to force himself to seem polite as he answered.

"Thanks for the offer but I'll pass. I don't do one night stands." he picked up the six heavy bags with ease and trudged out of the store, grumbling under his breath. He could swear he heard giggling and deeper chortling in the back of his mind, but pushed it to the back of his mind, concentrating on limping home. It was quite a trek, he had to make his way through downtown, which wasn't that big because the town was small, then cut through some other streets. All in all it was about a mile and a half. He shuddered and steeled his nerves, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.

"I've said it once and I'll say it again." said a voice behind him suddenly, making the wolf jump. "You're cute when you're pissed." he spun around to see Jin, in the flesh, leaning against an old building about a meter behind Kouen in his trademark white shirt gray jacket and jeans combo with gray sneakers.

"What the hell are you doing here? How'd you get off the island?" Kouen demanded, shoving the worst of his shock to the back of his mind.

"Amanda made a deal with the head of the demon realm. She's very good at... negotiating.'

"She set Alex and Rowan on the guy didn't she?" Jin nodded making Kouen roll his eyes. "Well, I can't say I'm particularly happy that you showed up at this exact moment, but while you're here make yourself useful and take some of these." he held up the bags. "I've lost feeling in my fingers." he grinned sheepishly, making Jin smile some.

"Alright. But I thought you said we could be friends again?" he raised as blond eyebrow in confusion.

"I did. But I just had a collision course with a shopping cart and got kneed in the balls by an eight year old." he shuddered. "Let's just say that I'm not in a very good mood right now." his grin turned apologetic for a moment before he frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. I'm just thinking too hard on something right now." he shook his head as Jin took half of the bags, leading the way back to the house. When they passed an empty ally, Kouen grabbed Jin's wrist and darted into it, using his speed to send them directly to the house, but he fell over clutching his leg as soon as they reached the front yard. "I'll kill the kid and then go after him in his afterlife." he growled, staggering to his feet with a little help from Jin. Limping bravely up the two stairs and into the house, he dropped the bags on the table and started sorting through them.

"You know, I've sort of missed home cooking." Jin commented wistfully, making Kouen pause for a moment, a slight red tint to his cheeks before he resumed taking various foods out of the bags. Piling a half gallon of milk, a medium sized package of ground beef, and some other things that would spoil if not refrigerated.

His sensitive ears picked up footsteps and closed the fridge just as Hitsugaya walked into the kitchen. "Afternoon sleeping beauty." the wolf snickered. He yanked the eye patch off when he realized that it was still on and glared at it. "Man I hate this thing." he grumbled to himself, tossing it onto the counter.

"What time is it?" Hitsugaya yawned, not noticing Jin yet.

"About noon I'd say. I was... delayed at Bruce's." he grinned sheepishly as he heard Jin stifle a chuckle. The third voice, though, knocked the boy out of his daze and his turquoise eyes snapped to the tiger that was settled in one of four chairs around the table.

"Uh... how'd he get here?" he asked, not really sure he was seeing things right.

"You don't wanna know." the wolf and tiger answered at the same time.

Hitsugaya blinked at this but shook his head, sitting beside Kouen as he took a seat between Jin and Hitsugaya. He watched curiously as the wolf propped his leg up on the table and rolled up the purposely tattered jeans, his heart stuttering slightly when he saw the ugly purple bruise on the wolf's leg. "Damn it all... I'll murder that brat..." he heard Kouen growl. Hitsugaya blinked at Kouen before he heard Jin let out a small laugh.

"He had a slight-"

"You call this slight?!" Kouen interrupted.

Jin ignored him. "Run in with an eight year old and a run away shopping cart... quite amusing really." he paused. "Your healing abilities only go as far as gashes and internal bleeding don't they?"

"What healing abilities? I use a form a battle field magic, not natural healing. I'm not a demon." he stared pointedly at Jin who blinked apologetically. "But you're right. I'm gonna be limping for a week." he yanked the pant leg back down and gingerly put his foot back on the ground. "Anyway. I'm going to go finish the garage. That thing's been bugging me for too long."

**-Later that night-**

Kouen sighed as he sank down into perfectly warm bathwater. It had been a long time since he had had an actual bath instead of a two minute shower before running out the door to get to work or a friend's house. He sank down to just below his collar bone, the tub being both long and deep. Running a hand through his hair, he sucked in a deep breath, letting it out a second later. He vaguely heard the door click open but didn't turn around until Hitsugaya came to stand beside him.

"I never got the chance to say this earlier, but the great werewolf Kouen bested by an eight year old? I'm surprised." the boy said with a smirk. Kouen glared up at him and let out a snort.

"I would say he came at my blind side but I don't have much of one any more now do I?" he said with a slight frown. He grinned suddenly and leaned forward, wrapping an arm around Hitsugaya's waist.

"What are you-ah!" he cut off as Kouen yanked him into the tub. "What are you doing you idiot!?" he snapped, glaring at Kouen who just laughed.

"You stink. The island wasn't exactly kind to you either." the wolf said with a good natured smirk. Hitsugaya hit him in the chest his scowl slipping. "Abusive aren't we?" Kouen murred, tugging on the boy's soaked clothes. Hitsugaya let him strip him, refusing to meet the wolf's eyes. When he was down to nothing, he leaned back against Kouen's chest, letting a sigh escape his lips as the wolf's and the water's warmth seeped into him. Kouen smiled softly and wrapped his tan arms around the boy's torso, resting his chin on his head. "If you fall asleep on me I'll let you drown." he joked.

"No you won't. And I'm not tired." Hitsugaya paused for a moment. "Kouen, why did you get so depressed when I died. I know its stupid to ask, but I want to know." he felt the wolf shift some and regretted asking until Kouen replied.

"You're the only one in the world who's seen past what I put on the outside and seen what's underneath. You're the only one who's loved all of me. Jin's a good friend yes, but he's not like you. With him I just moved on with in a couple months. With you, it took until now to get over everything, and that's only because you're here with me now. If you had been reincarnated a hundred years from now I would have still been moping about."

"You're such a fucking moron."

"That's Mr. Fucking Moron to you." Kouen laughed, remembering saying something similar the day both of them died. "We'd better get out of the water before we get all pruney. Ick." both laughed and got out, Kouen yanking on some boxers and going to retrieve some from the package he had gotten earlier that day along with some new shirts and pants for Hitsugaya. _I guess it is possible to get over chronic depression in one day..._ he mused, a smile gracing his features as he walked with Hitsugaya to the bedroom. They fell asleep with in ten minutes, Hitsugaya laying on Kouen's chest and the wolf with a protective arm around the boy, not going to let go of him again for the world.

_** Yay! It's over! Now to start on The Fall! Here's a brief summary of it: As Kouen struggles to contain his feral side during the week of the crimson moon, Akamizu rears his head, gathering an army and beginning an assault on the Soul Society and human world. Only Kouen can stop him but how much can he do when the slightest bit of negative emotion turns him into the most dangerous killing machine the world has and will ever know.**_


End file.
